It is not by chance that BasicNet SpA founder Marco Boglione is a great fan of Steve Jobs and that he has collected a number of mementoes including the renowned Apple-1, built in 1976 in the Los Altos garage.

The name of the Group established in 1994 draws inspiration from the first computer programming language initially adopted by Apple – BASIC – which immediately makes clear the original project Boglione started working on: a “fully web integrated company�, a virtual and physical network of independent companies and entrepreneurs producing and distributing licensed products branded by BasicNet.

BasicNet was the first marketplace in the history of the clothing industry, the first successful experiment incorporating internet within its business model: licensed manufacturers selling to licensed distributors, exclusively through online platforms developed by BasicNet, which is at the helm of all strategic activities, research and development of the collections, their industrialization, global marketing, finance, as well as ongoing development of the network of licensees and – of course – constant implementation of proprietary software.

Currently BasicNet is a corporation listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (since 1999), that has acquired important and well-known brands such as Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Jesus Jeans, Superga, K-Way, Sabelt, Briko and Sebago, leading casual apparel, footwear and accessory brands, with a fashionable and life-style connotation, maintaining a technical-sporty identity, all of which amounted to a total turnover of almost 900 million euros in 2018, through the best retailers in 130 countries and over 1.200 mono-brand stores employing, in Italy alone, over 600 people. 

From “Football Sport Merchandise�, founded by Marco Boglione in Torino in 1983, the path that lead to BasicNet Spa was both long and lightning-quick. As is coherent with a world that has undergone profound changes thanks to the IT Revolution.

Marco Boglione and his BasicNet have been able to best interpret this underlying spirit, with the support of Marco’s son, Lorenzo, who is here with us.

It is to them that the “Premio Pitti Immagine Uomo 2019� is awarded.