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Luciano Benetton, born May 13, 1935 in Treviso, is an Italian businessman,
Chairman of group United Colors of Benetton.
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.
Criticism Benetton
has faced criticisms about Mapuche organizations, including Mapuche
International Link, over its purchase of traditional Mapuche lands in southern
Argentina.
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." 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.
In the United States, most Benetton locations do not sell any of the Mens attire or
they sell only a fraction of the collection.
Benettonplay
Benetton also run the popular Bennetonplay. It's a website for young artists, so
they can show of their skills of drawing and animating. The toy Doodle proved quite
popular. Other toys include Odd one out and a music toy.
Source : Some of the
information on this page came from a Wikipedia article and is
licensed under the GNU Documentation License. ©2008 www.geneticmatrix.com.
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