Hugoboss.com offers three brand options, Hugo, Boss, and

He has a female playmate of course, the brand being for men and women’s fashions. She’s an equally striking and arrogant-looking babe in her late twenties. The women’s collection is given a similarly stylish treatment and prominence but no obvious lady captain’s of industry here either. Both suggest clean-cut, contemporary design of a very high quality using the hint of superiority implied by the brand name as a basis for a self-assured look.

Alongside the core brand is the alter ego, Hugo. Here we are introduced to another fashion collection and range of fragrances. The site uses more of the same approach, building on the feel of quality already established, with models this time looking aloof and a bit bohemian. The fragrance section relies on projecting an image of personality and implied lifestyle since smell is hard to characterize on the Internet, as yet. Accompanying the images are eloquent descriptions of the type of individual to which each fragrance would appeal.

Every image on this site introduces a strong sense of character. There are self-assured people looking back at you with every movement of the mouse – none more so than the fifty-something lounge lizard modeling the Baldessarini brand. Is he a millionaire tycoon from San Tropez, a playboy prince, or a drinking friend of Jack Nicholson? He sprawls knowingly across his chair as if he owns the place. His white suit is immaculate and greased back hair groomed perfectly. Some of the absurd poses struck by Mr. Baldessarini are worth the tedious download time spent on the other pages of the site.

The site clearly registers that this is a brand for the consummate sophisticate, for whom only the very finest fabrics and tailoring will do. The Baldessarini range carries a separate identity to cater for a different generation but conveys similar values, represented by the same glossy pages displaying a different catalogue.

Between these three brands the company has amassed global turnover of around one million Euros. But the business and the website are about more than textiles and fragrances. The strength of the brand identity has allowed expansion into accessories like eyewear, watches and leather goods. These are marketed under licenses through partner companies across the world and laid out on the website to complete the breadth of the proposition.

The site also covers the brand’s investment in sports sponsorship and the arts. At the forefront is the Hugo Boss Prize, with works of art nominated for the award being showcased.