What's probably the one thing you want to avoid if you're a clothing label? And even more so if you're a clothing label based in Germany? That's right: accidentally sticking something that looks an awful lot like a swastika on the buttons of a cardigan in your fall line. That's the news coming from Berlin about Esprit, who have decided to destroy ever copy of their new catalog and will soon be undergoing scrutiny by the government in Germany, where using anything remotely Nazi-esque in design is against the law. Here's some:

Esprit board chairman Heinz Kroger said: "It has come as a great shock to us and is very annoying." He added that the buttons in question had been used for many years by various fashion concerns, including rivals of Esprit. And the autumn catalogue was produced in London and approved by affiliates in several different countries "who unfortunately did not notice the resemblance."

"We have known about these traditional English buttons for years," said Kroger. "That's why nobody ever dreamt that they could be associated with such a thing."