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Benetton Group

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Benetton Group
Company typePublic (NYSE: BNG)
IndustryClothing
FoundedTreviso, Italy (1965)
HeadquartersVilla Minelli, Ponzano
Key people
Luciano Benetton, Chairman
Giuliana Benetton, Director
Gilberto Benetton, Director
Carlo Benetton, Deputy Chairman
ProductsComplete list of Benetton brands
RevenueIncrease €1,8 billion (2005)
Number of employees
7,987 (2005)
Websitewww.benettongroup.com

Benetton Group S.p.A. (NYSE: BNG) is a global clothing brand, based in Treviso, Italy. The name comes from four members of the Benetton family who founded the company in 1965. Benetton Group is listed on the Borsa Italiana, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.

The success story began in 1955 when Luciano Benetton, the eldest of four children, was only 20 years old and working as a salesman in Treviso. He realized that people wanted colors in their lives and especially in their clothes. He sold a younger brother's bicycle in order to buy the first second-hand knitting machine, and began to market a small collection of sweaters to local stores in the area of Veneto. The positive reaction to his designs was only the beginning of a solid start. Soon after, he asked his sister and his two younger brothers, Giberto and Carlo, to join him.

In 1968, the Benettons opened their first store in Belluno and the year after in Paris, with Luciano as chairman, his brother Giberto in charge of administration, their younger brother Carlo running production, and Giuliana as a chief designer.

Its core business is clothing with the casual line marketed as the "United Colors of Benetton", a fashion-oriented "Sisley" division, "Playlife" leisurewear, and "Killer Loop" streetwear brands. Their products include womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and underwear and they have recently expanded into toiletries, perfumes, exclusive watches and items for the home such as kitchen accessories and baby products.

The "United Colors" publicity campaign originated when photographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management.

Under Toscani's direction ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company; a deathbed scene of a man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS, a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached, two horses mating, close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women, a collage consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, and pictures of inmates on death row. The company's logo served as the only text accompanying the images in most of these advertisements.

Criticisms

Benetton has faced criticism from Mapuche organizations, including Mapuche International Link, over its purchase of traditional Mapuche lands in southern Argentina. [1]

Benetton aroused suspicion when they considered using RFID tracking chips on clothes to monitor inventory. A boycott site alleges the tracking chips "can be read from a distance and used to monitor the people wearing them."[2] Issues of consumer privacy were raised and the plan was shelved.

PETA launched a boycott campaign against Benetton for buying wool from farmers who practiced mulesing. Benetton has since agreed to buy nonmulesed wool and has further urged the wool industry to adopt the PETA and Australian Wool Growers Association agreement to end mulesing. [3]

Most Benetton locations in Canada and in the United States do not stock any of their men's collection or will carry only a small fraction of the collection.

Unlike comparable clothing retailers such as Gap, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch and Eddie Bauer, Benetton's does not list prices for their merchandise on their official websites.

See also

Benetton brands

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