Overview

There are only very few family-owned enterprises which managed to develop world brands. Benetton, an Italian, family-owned enterprise is one such case. It belongs to a family of four siblings, Luciano, Giuliana (both of whom were the initial founders of the company), Gilberto and Carlo Benetton. The company's roots are intricately entwined in the family's history.

The Benetton children lost their father, Leone Benetton in 1945 during the Second World War when all of them were just mere adolescents. Luciano, the eldest, was only ten years old when his childhood ended. He became the de-facto breadwinner of the family, selling newspapers and panini (sandwiches) at the train station near their house in the morning and bars of soap after school on a door-to-door basis just to make ends meet. Giuliana, the only Benetton daughter and the second eldest had learnt to knit from children's comics when she was young. She quit school to work in a garment sweat shop to help support the family income. When Luciano grew older, he worked for several years as a retail salesman in the Dellasiegas' clothing store in Treviso where he lived. As time passed, he began to realise that he and his sister were capable of producing and selling jumpers on their own instead of selling them on commission for other people.

Luciano's enterprise was based on a simple notion: making and selling colourful knit-wear which was of a commendable quality and which could be bought at a cheap and affordable price,...