1915-1943 1951-1979 1980-1988 1994-2007 1915-1943 THE ORIGINS 1915 ITALY DECLARES WAR ON AUSTRIA 1916 THE ORIGINS Due to Abramo Vitale’s decision to marry Antonia Cesarina Mariani, a Catholic woman, he was obliged by his Jewish father, Davide Vitale, to choose between his family run company and his wife. Hence, he accepted his portion of patrimony and, along with Guglielmo Marengo and Ettore Gaetano Donn, on 12th November 1916, he set up the company named Società Anonima “Calzificio Torinese”. Thanks to the machinery for cotton weaving, given by customers as a sort of debt repayment, the company started their production of socks using the facilities of their own farmhouse. 1917 CALZIFICIO TORINESE IS BORN “1st January 1917 start the activities of ‘Calzificio Torinese’ founded with the object of the manufacture and sale of socks, constituted 12th November 1916, in the presence of the notary public. The capital is set at lire 400 thousand divided into 4,000 shares of lire 100 each to the bearer”. (Company establishment act No. 1371, registered 19th December 1916 at the office of the clerk of Turin court). 1939 THE SECOND WORLD WAR BREAKS OUT Government supply increases and knitwear is added to the production of socks. For the first time the products bear the trademark. 1943 BOMBING RAZES CALZIFICIO TORINESE TO THE GROUND The Americans bomb the factory, considered a legitimate target because it supplies the Italian army. 1951-1979 THE ECONOMIC BOOM 1951 THE REBIRTH The new Calzificio Torinese head office is inaugurated, still active today. With the collapse of military orders, the company turns to the convenience goods market. 1955 THE COMPANY EXPANDS Following the merger with Manifattura Tessuti Maglierie S.p.A., whose chairman is Davide Vitale, Calzificio Torinese changes its name to "Maglificio Calzificio Torinese". 1956 AN ERROR CREATES THE TRADEMARK Customers return a stock of socks due to a manufacturing error. Intending to guarantee the product new credibility, the Vitale family label the new production with the monogram "K-KONTROLL", to indicate the maximum qualitative rigour according to German standards. 1958 EVERYONE WANTS AQUILA SOCKS WITH THE K The Kappa® trademark is born, becoming the leading socks and underwear producer on the Milan market. 1968 A YOUNG MAN SHOWS HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD BY SIMPLY WISHING IT PASSIONATELY At only 23 years of age, Maurizio Vitale, inherits the management of Maglificio Calzificio Torinese and uproots it from the now suffering traditional sectors, demonstrating acute entrepreneurial spirit and awareness of cultural changes. 1968 THE MILITARY LOOK, MAURIZIO VITALE’S FIRST GREAT INTUITION The young entrepreneur sees John Lennon, during a speech, put on the army shirt of a soldier who fell in Vietnam. He then dyes all Kappa underwear shirts army green, enriching them with armorial bearings and symbols, and makes his presence felt on the dawning informal wear scene. 1969 THE WINNING LOGO During a photo shooting for a Beatrix swimsuit catalogue, in a backlighting shot of the silhouette of a boy and girl sitting back to back, Maurizio Vitale spots the image destined to become Robe di Kappa®'s crisp, neat logo. 1970 “SIMPLE STUFF FOR GUYS THAT WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD” Robe di Kappa® starts advertising 1971 MANY PRETENDERS FOR THE NAME THAT SPLITS ITALY IN TWO Many claim to have suggested Maurizio Vitale the name for the "Jesus® Jeans" brand. The genial intuition is in fact from Oliviero Toscani, inspired by the successful musical "Jesus Christ Superstar", playing on Broadway that year. 1972 MAURIZIO VITALE FREES HIS SECOND GREAT PASSION: ADVERTISING Oliviero Toscani's provocative photos and the advertising claims of Emanuele Pirella scandalise conservative Italy, but gain the support of the irreverent Italy of the young, who wear their jeans like a second skin. 1973 TWO FORCES FACE UP TO EACH OTHER The court judge Vincenzo Salmeri orders the removal of hundreds of Jesus® Jeans posters because they "go against good taste and are religiously offensive". 1974 THE FEMMINIST MOVEMENT REBELS AGAINST THE “JESUS JEANS” MORAL PHENOMENON The advertising posters also attract the attention of radical feminists, so much so that censure labels appear above them saying: "This advertisement offends women". The controversy sparks off an unexpected and growing interest in the jeans that will lie behind the brand's extraordinary mass success. 1978 SPORTSWEAR Marco Boglione, Robe di Kappa® ís young sales manager, realises that look concept strictly unisex is beginning to fade: there is a growing need for the young to reinterpret freedom through clothing and this convinces Maurizio Vitale to create a new market segment, "sportswear". 1979 SPORT SPONSORSHIP: A STRATEGY THAT TAKES MAGLIFICIO’S EXPANSION TOWARDS INTERNATIONAL TARGETS Maurizio Vitale is the first in Italy to sponsor a football team, fully aware of the importance this sport has for the masses. 1980-1988 THE EIGHTIES 1980 THE USSR BECOMES “JESUSSR” Maglificio Calzificio Torinese profits from the American boycott of the Russian Olympics winning the very important licensing contract for the production of Jesus® Jeans in Russia, cancelled by Levi's® for political reasons. 1981 “THE KING OF JESUS JEANS” LANDS IN THE UNITED STATES AND SPONSORS THE COUNTRY’S TRACK-AND-FIELD ATHLETICS TEAM Maurizio Vitale signs a million dollar contract on a napkin; athletes such as Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses, champions destined to be cheered by crowds in the world's most important stadiums, will wear the Kappa® logo. 1984 THE LOS ANGELES OLYMPICS: TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN TRIUMPH The official suits are designed with the advice of a man from NASA, doctor Kuznetz, who, inspired by space suits, designs the suits in silver to reflect light and to keep the athlete's body cooler. The shoes, on the other hand, are created by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. 1985 FOOTBALL SPORT MERCHANDISE IS BORN Marco Boglione, at Maurizio Vitale's side since 1976, leaves Maglificio Calzificio Torinese. Urged on by Maurizio Vitale to develop his entrepreneurial aptitude, together with his friend Luciano Antonino, he begins the "Football Sport Merchandise" adventure, today BasicNet. 1987 THE END OF AN EPOCH Maurizio Vitale dies; illness takes away a man who, with his vocation to pour enthusiasm into a situation to grasp its essence, knew how to break the barriers of a still rigid Italian mentality with his innovative ideas. Maurizio Vitale's brother, Edoardo, takes over the company. 1988 THE SEOUL OLYMPICS 1994-2007 THE NETWORK 1994 14th JANUARY 1994 MAGLIFICIO CALZIFICIO TORINESE IS DECLARED BANKRUPT BY THE COURT OF TURIN With Football Sport Merchandise, Marco Boglione takes over all its assets. "Slowly slowly, I'm in a hurry": the BasicNet project is born and there is the relaunching in record time of Maglificio Calzificio Torinese's business and trademark. 1996 BENNETON ENTERS The BasicNet project, intrigues and convinces one of the great names of Italian industry: with 21 Investimenti S.p.A. Alessandro Benetton becomes Marco Boglione's joint partner and the project takes off. 1999 AND OLD DREAM IS REALISED 15th January 1999, BasicNet wins the contest for the technical sponsorship of the FIGC - The Italian Football Federation. Kappa® signs a four-year contract to supply the national team with its own technical material. 1999 17th NOVEMBER 1999 BASICNET DEBUTS ON THE MILAN STOCK EXCHANGE 2002 TURIN TOWN COUNCIL DEDICATES A SITE IN THE CITY TO ITS ENTREPRENEUR Largo Maurizio Vitale: “The man who wrote a chapter in the history of our city, reflecting, a quarter of a century ago, on how today, with effort, one can strive to plan the future of Turin”. (Extract from the speech of Fiorenzo Alfieri, the City of Turin Deputy Major for Culture, during the road dedication ceremony). 2004 BASICNET ACQUIRES THE K-WAY® TRADEMARK 2007 BASICNET ACQUIRES THE SUPERGA® TRADEMARK TODAY Between 2007 and 2015, aggregate sales of the products bearing the Group brands grew from 275 to 450 million Euro, with a significant increase of the human resources, from 304 in 2007 to 480 in 2015. Thanks to the fully web integrated business system that enables the online management of all phases of the supply chain, BasicNet was able to overcome with no serious harm the economic tsunami of the end of the 2000s. The products of the Group are currently present in all five continents: their distribution now covers 122 markets worldwide. Group capitalization has been growing in the last 10 years from 37 million Euro, on September 21st, 2005, to today's 220 million Euro. Marco Boglione, Founder and Chairman of BasicNet, was awarded the Order of Merit for Labour on May 31st, 2011. Home · How to Reach · BasicNet on TV · Breaking News · Company Info · Copyright © 1985- BasicNet S.p.A. P.I. 04413650013 - All Rights Reserved Largo Maurizio Vitale 1 10152, Torino, ITALY +39 011 26171 Contact us About the company We bring together a great number of entrepreneurs from all over the world with a common objective. We handle all critical information pertaining to the supply chain. We earn a service commission of approximately a third of the added value generated by the entire process, capitalizing on increase of the brand value due to sales development. We do all this while continuously researching and implementing the best IT technology and the driving constant improvement of web integration to manage all our business processes. We stand for antitrust of the network.