Buongiorno and welcome to Monocle in Milan. I'm Andrew Muller. On today's show, live from the Allianz Winter Sky Lounge. Coming up, we meet the company who built the kit whichkeeps Winter Olympians in shape, the label responsible for Team USA's outfits and Europe'sbest-dressed football teams, several representatives of the Olympic City's world-leading design community and...

The latest from our correspondent on the slopes of Cortina. That's all coming up on Monocle in Milan.

You're listening to Monocle in Milan, where it is coming up, or just is, at 10 past 10 in the morning. Now, the famous logo of Kappa, that silhouette of two figures sitting back-to-back, has graced some of the most stylish shirts in the history of European football. Most pertinently to where we are broadcasting, with a view that embraces Milan's San Siro Stadium. It was a scarlet and black Kappa shirt in which that all-star AC Milan team of thelate 1980s, Beresi, Maldini, Ancelotti, Donadoni, Hullert, Rijkaard, Van Basten, et al.won a cabinet full of Scudetti and European cups. Kappa is also a presence at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, adorning the skiers and snowboarders of Team USA. And I'm joined now by Lorenzo Boglione, CEO of Kappa parent company, BasicNet. Lorenzo, welcome to Monocle in Milan.

Thank you very much for having me here.

I did mention, of course, those famous Kappa football shirts, and it's not just Milan. There are many others, even now, still wearing the Kappa logo. But are those football shirts a big selling point for Kappa when it goes out looking for customers from other sports?

Yes, absolutely. I still think we live on the memories of those epic times.Of course, Milan was a very important and relevant day, but Barcelona, Juventus, Ajax, all of the bestteams in the world wore Kappa at a certain point. And we are proud that almost all of them won amazing trophies wearing our jerseys.

But if we go back from that period to this, does it strike you that there is an overarching philosophy, not just to Kappa, but to BasicNet in total, that you apply to your designs?

Yes, absolutely. We always try to innovate and be disruptive with the products we supplyto our athletes. Even today, I think the suits of the American skiers stand out pretty loud. The stars, the colours. We really believe it is important to find a way to stand out.We're not the biggest brand, we're not the most powerful, but we can innovate.And that is the thing that excites us the most.

How did that relationship come about with Team USA? Because obviously that's a hugecustomer to have landed. And as you say, there are many more obvious, bigger ones that they could have gone to. So what was your pitch?

Well, the pitch was that sometimes in life you need to be lucky. And in that moment wewere, let's say, moving out a troubled relationship with the Italian Ski Federation.They were moving out of a troubled relationship with an American brand. And it just happened tobe the right moment for both. We made a big effort because, of course, it's a big commitmentfor a company like ours. But we knew the Olympics were coming to Milano and Cortina. And we just said, let's go for it. And unfortunately, we had an amazing four years.The Olympic Games have not probably been as successful as we hoped for the Americans. We still havethe hope in Michaela Schiffrin for tomorrow, I think. But again, unfortunately, Lindsey had a very terrible accident and we really hope for a speedy recovery. But just having her wear the suit and being around was amazing.

But when you have something like an outfit for Team USA, you were talking about being disruptive.How disruptive are you able to get though? Because you're designing an Olympic outfit for the United States. So you know it's going to be red, white and blue.There are going to be stars and there are probably going to be stripes. How much fun can you actually have with that?

Look, our job could look simple from outside. At the end, you have a T-shirt, you have a suit.It's always made in the same material, more or less, as I said, stripes, blue, red, white. But then you go back and you go around and you see the other suits and you see thatyou can be innovative and you can be disruptive. If you look at the suits of the past for USA, they were not like that. So I think, again, you have to be sometimes brave. There's always a lot of different parts, you know, commenting and wanting to give their opinion. At the end, you have to go straight. And we had our inspiration. We wanted the stars to be likethey are, so long on the legs and the sleeves and not in the typical shape of the American flag. And honestly, the reactions have been tremendous. We had a lot of good comments aboutit. I mean

How much freedom were you given, though? Was there a lot of back and forth withTeam USA or did you just come to them with your first idea and they said, yeah, that's great, let's do it?

No, it's never our style to just impose. It's always a job we like to do together.We share seven different options. We say, you know, which one we like the most.And then, you know, we compromise where there is a need for compromise. But generally, we like to workwith the teams and we like the teams and the athletes to feel comfortable in their gear.We just don't want to impose straight up.

And how important is it as well, though, to, I mean, impose is probably, well, clearly the wrong word, but to, I guess, lend an amount of the Kappa essence to any project you work on? Because for all that you were talking about it being arelatively small and disruptive brand, it has now been going long enough with enough profile thatit is also a legacy brand. There's a balance there, isn't there?

Yeah, but the legacy is to be different. The legacy that we need to stand up for is to be different and disruptive. So, you know, that's what we like to do. And we will continue doing it even if now and again we mightpiss off somebody.

I mean, I do have to ask you if yourself looking back over that extraordinary legacy, in particular of European football shirts, if you have a particular favourite.And when I ask you that question, I am kind of challenging you with 47 floors above Milan,with a view of the San Siro. And I know it's a Turin based company, but are you really goingto stand there and say it was the Juventus shirts your favourite?

No, I think I have an easier answer. I think the Italian national team jersey of 2000 and two at the World Cup in Korea and Japan was our masterpiece. We went really bold, we decided to change the material, the fabric andthe fit of the jersey. We took the logo off the chest and put it on the shoulder to leave thechest only for the Italian Scudetto. So that was the cleanest, sleekest, most technologic jerseywhen everybody was going in a completely different direction. And after that, everybody started following us. So I think it's an easy answer. The Italian national team, especially during the Olympics, I think it's good.

And a nicely diplomatic answer that everyone in Italy can agree on Lorenzo Boglione, CEO of BasicNet, thank you for joining us. This is Monocle in Milan.

Thank you very much.

(automatic transcription)