Product range. Clothing for women, men, and kids. Colourful knitwear, as ubiquitous as green jumpers are these days, still at the core of Benetton's product range notwithstanding, its make quality has degraded over the years. Now, Benetton is the destination for normcore clothing in demand by magna cum laude students and office clerks. Modest cute school uniform is also available at Benetton.
Originality. In terms of the colours and styles for tees, jumpers and cardigans Benetton is second to no one, even Uniqlo. However, they are mostly pretty much standard and predictable.
Chic. Benetton has nothing to offer to those looking for something zeitgeisty.
Pricing. Zara-like. Knitwear prices range from low €20 for a jumper to high €60 for a jacquard cardigan, a pair of jeans will cost you some €30, while price tags for coats and jackets rarely read more than €120.
Corporate history highlights. The company's co-founders Luciano and Giuliana Benetton sold their bicycle and accordion to afford their first second-hand knitting machine in 1955. In 1971, the company opened its first store in Paris. Benetton Group's marketing strategy has become notorious for its controversial publicity campaigns. It all started when photographer Oliviero Toscani became Benetton's art director. None of the campaigns was in any obvious way related to Benetton's products and instead featured documentaries on a number of social issues. The collaboration gave birth to the advertising billboards depicting HIV/AIDS activist David Kirby at his deathbed, a blood-stained newborn baby prior to omphalotomy, interracial assemlage of genitals, a priest and a nun just about to kiss, death row prisoners, as well as the blood-stained trousers and t-shirts of the soldiers who died in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
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