Benetton Group

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Benetton Group Srl

logo
legal form Società a responsabilità limitata
ISIN IT0003106777
founding 1965
Seat Ponzano Veneto , ItalyItalyItaly 
management
  • Massimo Renon, CEO
sales 1.28 billion EUR (2017)
Branch Textile industry
Website benetton.com

The Benetton Group (Italian pronunciation: [benetˈton]) is an Italian textile and fashion company based in Ponzano Veneto . The Benetton Group has around 5,000 stores worldwide.

It belongs to the Holding Edizione srl of the Benetton family and has been operating as Holding Benetton Srl since spring 2018 , in which the Benetton Group Ltd and Olimpias Group Ltd are combined.

history

Benetton branch in Prague (2009)

Benetton was founded in Ponzano Veneto ( Treviso ) in 1965 by the four siblings Luciano , Gilberto, Giuliana and Carlo Benetton.
In 1966 the first store was opened in Belluno and in 1969 the first foreign branch in Paris . In 1972 the Jean's West brand was created , and two years later the originally French brand Sisley was added to the portfolio of brands by Benetton. At the end of the 1970s, 60 percent of production was exported. The first store in New York opened in 1980 on Madison Avenue , followed by the first store in Tokyo in 1982 .

In 1983, Benetton got involved in Formula 1 as a sponsor for the Tyrrell team . Three years later, after the takeover of Toleman, the own racing team Benetton Formula Limited was founded. The Benetton team won the drivers' world championship in 1994 and in the following year it was the winner in the driver and team standings, with Michael Schumacher confirming himself as an absolute top driver. In 2000 the team was transferred to Renault .

In the 1980s, Benetton, in collaboration with the photographer Oliviero Toscani , initiated a revolutionary renewal in advertising communication. Socially critical issues - war, disease, discrimination, racism - become the main element of advertising campaigns, which over the years gain recognition through their cultural value. Toscani became artistic director in 1982. In 1985, Benetton advertising was awarded the “Grand Prix de la Publicité Presse Magazine” and the “Grand Prix de la Communication Pubblicitaire”.

From 1986 to 1989 the Benetton Group was listed on the Milan , Frankfurt and New York stock exchanges . In 1987 the Benetton Foundation for Studies and Research was established and the “Carlo Scarpa” International Prize was established. In 1991, the “Colors” magazine , founded by Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani , made its debut . It appeared in four languages ​​and was available in around forty countries. 1994 marked the founding year of Fabrica, Benetton's communications research center.

In 2003, the Benetton family withdrew from the front line of corporate governance and made room for other managers. In 2006 the group celebrated its 40th anniversary with its first fashion show, which took place in the Center Pompidou in Paris.

In 2012, Benetton was taken off the stock exchange.

At the end of 2017, the 82-year-old Luciano Benetton , who left the Board of Directors in 2008, returned to the top of the Supervisory Board after two years of losses as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.

On May 16, 2018, the two previous companies Benetton Group Ltd and Olimpias Group Ltd were merged into the newly founded Benetton Srl , with the Benetton Group being responsible for commercial activities while the Olimpias Group is responsible for production. Luciano Benetton chairs the Board of Directors of Benetton Srl as Executive President.

Carlo Benetton, the youngest of the four Benetton siblings, died in July 2018 at the age of 74. In October 2018, only three months after Carlo Benetton, co-founder Gilberto Benetton died at the age of 77.

Brands

Benetton Megastore in Vienna (2012)

The company owns several brands: United Colors of Benetton , in short, Benetton , a global brand, which is one the most famous of the world; The Undercolors of Benetton brand combines the range of fashionable underwear, sleepwear and accessories for women, men and children. Sisley is the Benetton Group's glamor label for women, men and children (Sisley Young) and is particularly open to the latest fashion trends. The Benetton Group operates  Benetton and Sisley shops around the world, some as a franchise .

With regard to other brands belonging to the group, the company decided at the end of 2013 to concentrate on the main brands Benetton and Sisley and either discontinue or sell the remaining brands.

The Playlife brand , with its own stores mainly in southern Europe, focuses on women's and men's fashion in a leisure style. With Jean's West the denim-based Freizeitmoden segment is operated for men and women. The Anthology of Cotton label focuses on functional women's sportswear. The streetwear label Killer Loop is also part of Benetton.

In 1989 the Benetton Group acquired the Italian ski boot manufacturer Nordica . In 1991 the group bought a 50 percent share in the American inline skate manufacturer Rollerblade through Nordica . Nordica and Rollerblade were sold again in 2004. The American tennis brand Prince Sports, Inc. , to which the badminton brand Ektelon also belonged, was acquired by the Benetton Group in 1990 and sold again in 2003.

Advertising campaigns

For years, Benetton advertised with shocking and unusual images that at first glance have little to do with fashion.

In collaboration with the photographer Oliviero Toscani , numerous advertising posters were created that brought Benetton on everyone's lips. Well-known examples were the following posters with the following subjects: David Kirby, dying of AIDS ; the bloody shirt with the bullet hole of a soldier who died in the Bosnian war ; a black mother nursing a white baby; a black man with a severed hand and a makeshift prosthesis ending in a spoon; a nun kissing a priest; Faces of those sentenced to death as well as a buttocks with the tattoo " HIV -positive".

Numerous campaigns caused outrage. Magazines refused to print ads, shopkeepers took Benetton out of their range. But the targeted shock advertising stimulated discussions and increased awareness of Benetton. Spokespersons said: "Benetton's campaigns have broken down the wall of indifference and helped raise awareness of universal problems among the world's citizens." The legal battle over some of the advertising motifs led to the Benetton decisions .

In 2011, after protests by the Vatican , the Benetton Group withdrew a photo montage in which a kissing scene between Pope Benedict XVI. and the Imam Ahmed al-Tajjeb was seen. The series also shows kisses from Barack Obama with his then Chinese colleague Hu Jintao as well as between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas .

Head office

Villa Minelli

The headquarters of the Benetton Group is Villa Minelli in Ponzano Veneto near Treviso , about 30 kilometers northwest of Venice. Villa Minelli is a building complex from the 16th century. It was acquired by the Benetton Group in 1969 and restored under the direction of architects Afra and Tobia Scarpa . In total, the work on the adaptation and renovation took more than fifteen years. In the mid-1980s, Villa Minelli became the headquarters and center for all strategic functions of the company.

Fabrica

Fabrica is Benetton's communications research center, born in 1994 from the company's cultural richness. It is located in a historic building complex in Treviso that was restored by Tadao Ando.

Fabrica's activities also include the publication of Colors , the magazine financed by the Benetton Group. It appears in over 15 languages; every booklet is written in two languages.

In spring 2010 Fabrica supported the election campaign of the new President of the Veneto Region, Luca Zaia ( Lega Nord ).

The company is to be converted by Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani in 2018 to the Fabrica Circus 7 / 7x24 .

Sporting commitment

Benetton B192 from 1992

In 1979 Benetton bought the rugby club Benetton Rugby Treviso, which was founded in 1932 and has since been renamed after the company . Until 2010 he played in the Italian professional league Super 10 , but then switched to the higher and internationally held championship Pro 12 . The Benetton Formula racing team took part in Formula 1 from 1986 to 2001 . Michael Schumacher began his Formula 1 career with Jordan in 1991 before moving to Benetton during the season and becoming world champion in 1994 and 1995 . In 1995, Benetton also won the Constructors' World Championship . The basketball club Pallacanestro Treviso also belonged to Benetton for a long time and was called Benetton Treviso from 1981 to 2011 .

Social responsibility

In September 2012, the company launched the Unemployee of the Year social campaign to support young people without a job. With the campaign, on whose posters you can see young people in suits, the company wants to draw attention to a major problem facing the younger generations. Worldwide, more than 100 million young people between the ages of 15 and 29 are not in a permanent job. With this campaign, the company and the Unhate Foundation are calling for a competition. We are looking for young people between the ages of 18 and 30 who convince with creative projects. 100 ideas of the proposals sent in worldwide are each supported with 5,000 euros.

criticism

Working conditions in low-wage countries

In 2010, the non-governmental organization Declaration of Bern compared the standards of working conditions in production countries by means of surveys and internet research at 77 fashion labels. Benetton was placed in the second worst category, “negligent” of five categories.

According to the Black Book of Brand Companies , the Benetton Group, like practically all multinational textile brands , has its garments manufactured in low-wage countries at the lowest wages and under miserable working conditions. In April 2013 occurred in Bangladesh for a garment factory in Savar Upazila collapse with 1,127 dead and 2,438 injured. Legal regulations had not been complied with in the factory. Benetton also had production there. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, even a year after the disaster, Benetton refused to pay adequate compensation to the survivors of the collapse.

Displacements in Argentina

The Benetton company has owned over 900,000 hectares of land in Patagonia in southern Argentina since 1991 . The land now owned by the group was owned by the Mapuche , who were forcibly evicted from that land. The lands had been given to private individuals by President José Evaristo Uriburu in 1896 , without taking into account the rights of the Mapuche. After various changes of ownership, a company belonging to the Benetton Group acquired the land in 1991. The Mapuche Indians see themselves as the legal owners of this land and have been in dispute with Benetton for years without result. Benetton fenced in the country and barred the Mapuche from access to their traditional fields, pastures and sometimes also living spaces. In May 2018, Benetton employees, together with the Argentine police, violently attacked Mapuche in Chubut, in the immediate vicinity of the place where the activist Santiago Maldonado was kidnapped and murdered by government forces.

literature

Web links

Commons : Benetton Group  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ edizione.com - Financial Statement 2017
  2. ↑ DOP. Dizionario.rai.it, accessed June 28, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Benetton Group - At a glance
  4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 16, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 21, 2018) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.edizione.com
  5. ↑ https://fashionunited.de/nachrichten/business/benetton-gibt-sich-neue-konzernstruktur/2018052925470 (accessed on August 22, 2018)
  6. ↑ https://derstandard.at/2000073466606/Die-Alte-Benetton-Garde-uebernehmen-wieder-das-Ruder (August 22, 2018)
  7. ↑ "Unbearable pain": 82-year-old Luciano Benetton wants to save his company (January 31, 2018)
  8. ↑ https://fashionunited.de/nachrichten/business/benetton-gibt-sich-neue-konzernstruktur/2018052925470 (accessed on August 22, 2018)
  9. ↑ Carlo Benetton died at the age of 74 (July 10, 2018)
  10. ↑ Co-founder of the Benetton fashion brand is dead . In: stern.de . October 23, 2018 ( stern.de [accessed October 24, 2018]).
  11. ↑ Benetton stops Playlife, Killer Loop and Jean's West ( Memento from January 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), textilwirtschaft.de, December 27, 2013.
  12. ^ Rollerblade - About us ( January 4, 2011 memento in the Internet Archive ), rollerblade.com, accessed: March 22, 2011.
  13. ↑ Benetton agrees to sell Prince to Lincolnshire Equity Fund , benettongroup.com, March 28, 2003.
  14. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.360-grad-blog.de
  15. ↑ Alexandra Genova: The Story Behind the Colorization of a Controversial Benetton AIDS Ad. In: Time.com. December 14, 2016, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  16. ^ Ileana Grabitz : Oliviero Toscanis Tastelessnesses. In: welt.de . September 11, 2009, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Peter Littmann: Howl again! In: welt.de . April 19, 2003, accessed October 7, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Benetton withdraws Pope kiss picture. In: Spiegel Online . November 16, 2011, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  19. ^ A Magazine About the Rest of the World. Retrieved September 13, 2016 .
  20. ↑ https://www.cicero.de/aussenpolitik/genua-morandi-bruecke-lega-nord-fuenf-sterne-bewegung-forza-italia-benetton (accessed on August 22, 2018)
  21. ↑ http://ricerca.gelocal.it/tribunatreviso/archivio/tribunatreviso/2010/03/24/TC1PO_TC103.html (accessed on August 22, 2018)
  22. ↑ Kness-Bastaroli: The old Benetton Guard takes over the helm again. In: The Standard . February 2, 2018, accessed January 14, 2019 .
  23. ↑ http://artivitaet.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/unemployee-of-the-year/ report at Artativeness
  24. ↑ http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/wirtschaft/unternehmen-und-konjendung/Hippe-Label--unfaire-Produktion/story/23511741
  25. ^ A b Klaus Werner-Lobo, Hans Weiss: Black Book Brand Companies. The world in the grip of the corporations . Deuticke Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-552-06259-7 . P. 216.
  26. ↑ tagesschau.de: Rescue work in Bangladesh stopped 1127 dead, 2438 injured ( Memento from June 7, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  27. ↑ huffingtonpost.com: In First Interview Since Bangladesh Factory Collapse, Benetton CEO Confirms Company's Tie To Tragedy
  28. ↑ corpwatch.org: Mapuche Lands in Patagonia Taken Over by Benetton Wool Farms
  29. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from October 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  30. ↑ http://www.3sat.de/page/?source=/dokumentationen/139982/index.html report at 3Sat
  31. ↑ Argentina: Police, Benetton Workers Attack Mapuche Community Telesur , May 4, 2018; Argentina Marches For 'Disappeared' Activist Santiago Maldonado , Telesur , July 31, 2018; Saskia Fischer: Mapuche vs Benetton: un-settling the land , Open Democracy, February 5, 2017.