The principle of everything is a yellow knit stitch.
It's the mid-fifties. Giuliana Benetton makes a yellow wool sweater for her brother Luciano. Today it seems trivial,
but at that time most of the young people wear sweaters in dark or neutral shades. Luciano realizes that his look
attracts the attention of classmates and something in his head clicks.
Brother and sister, who are respectively twenty and eighteen, sell an accordion and a bicycle and borrow from
their relatives and friends what is missing to reach 300,000 lire, the basic price of a knitting machine. It is the
minimum necessary to set up a small family business, in which Giuliana will be a dressmaker and Luciano the
salesman.
The first collection is sold in a shop within walking distance of the Benetton family. It's called Très Jolie, which in
French means "very cute", is composed of twenty round-necked sweaters, turtlenecks or V-necks, in bright colors
ranging from yellow to blue and green.
In the following four months, the Benettons sell twenty sweaters a week and with the proceeds they are able to
repay the debts made to buy the knitting machine. It is the beginning of a global success that continues today.