The Faded Colors of Benetton

The Italian Knitwear is in a financial death spiral. Can it survive?

Also in this issue:

• Super Bowl fashion

• More designer firings

• Anouk Aimée’s wardrobe is on the block

Luciano Benetton and Oliviero Toscani with one of their famous ads.

Benetton, the Italian knitwear company known for its colorful sweaters and its controversial ad campaigns by photographer Oliviero Toscani in the 1980s and 1990s, is in a full-blown financial crisis. Last year, the brand closed 180 stores, and last week, it announced an additional 420 would be shuttered by the end of the year—200 of them in Italy. It all, that’s nearly twenty percent of the company’s retail outlets worldwide.

Also last week, the Sarajevo Times reported that the Serbian factory where Benetton produces much of its knitwear is closing in April, and 950 workers will be laid off. Benetton has been manufacturing there since 2011.