August 17, 2011
Kappa
- is an Italian company that manufactures sporting clothes and accessories.
Holding Company: BasicNet
Brands: Robe diKappa, K-Way, Superga, AnziBesson, Lanzera and Jesus Jeans.
Kappa History
The brand, featuring the Omini logo, was created in 1978 when Marco Boglione, young Sales and Marketing Manager at Maglificio Calzificio Torinese, convinced Maurizio Vitale – company CEO – to create a brand dedicated to sports from growing Robe di Kappa. In 1979 Kappa (Robe di Kappa Sport at the time) sponsored for the first time in Italy a famous football team, Juventus. The brand gained popularity at world level five years later, during the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, when U.S. athletes wore Kappa sportswear.
Trivia:
- The logo, known as Omini, is a silhouette of a man (left) and woman (right) sitting back to back in the nude. It was created in 1969 by mere accident. After a photo shoot for a bathing suit advertisement, a man and a woman were sitting back-to-back, naked, with the outlines of their bodies traced by the back lighting.
- The logo symbolizes the mutual support between man and woman, and their completion.
- The company started as a sock and underwear manufacturer in Turin, Italy.
- Kappa and its sister brands are owned by the holding company BasicNet and by JJ Robison.
- The company also is the current kit supplier for the Italy national rugby union team.
Kappa, like Diadora, is one of the most famous Italian brands in the world
