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BasicNet

Turin sportswear group founded in 1994 by Marco Boglione: it owns Kappa, K-Way, Superga, Sebago, Woolrich and other brands.

BasicNet is the Turin sportswear and leisurewear group that owns, among others, the brands Kappa, Robe di Kappa, K-Way, Superga, Briko, Jesus Jeans, Sebago, Woolrich and Sundek. It is headquartered in Turin, at Largo Maurizio Vitale 1[1], has been listed on the Italian Stock Exchange since 1999, and distributes its products in more than 130 markets through a network of licensees[2]. The group was formed in 1994, bringing together the brands of a city textile business founded in 1916[3].

From Maglificio Calzificio Torinese to Kappa

The story begins with Maglificio Calzificio Torinese, established in 1916[3] and specialised in quality hosiery and underwear. According to the company's own account, during a production crisis it was decided to mark every garment with a "K", from the German Kontroll, as a guarantee of quality control: that initial gave rise to the name Kappa[4]. Alongside the sports line came Robe di Kappa, dedicated to casual wear, while the first football sponsorships, with Juventus, began turning the brand into a name in sport. The symbol linking all the lines is the Omini (little men) logo, recognisable worldwide[4].

1994: BasicNet is born

The turning point came with the bankruptcy of Maglificio Calzificio Torinese. In 1994 Football Sport Merchandise, owned by entrepreneur Marco Boglione, acquired many of its brands, including Kappa, Robe di Kappa and Jesus Jeans: this is the group's founding act[3]. The set-up is unusual for the sector: BasicNet does not manufacture directly but presents itself as a network of independent entrepreneurs linked by a single IT platform. Production licensees (the Sourcing Centers) manufacture, commercial licensees distribute, while the parent company develops the brands and manages the value chain[2], retaining as a service fee about a third of the added value of the whole process[3]. Over time a network of directly run shops, called plug@sell, has been added, active in Italy, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain and France[2].

In June 2011 President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano appointed Boglione a Cavaliere del Lavoro (Knight of Labour); the group he chaired then included Kappa, Robe di Kappa, K-Way, Superga, AnziBesson, Lanzera and Jesus Jeans[5].

The acquisitions: from K-Way to Woolrich

After turning Kappa around, BasicNet built its portfolio by buying historic brands that were struggling or under-exploited. The first was K-Way, the windproof jacket that folds into its own pouch, invented in Paris in 1965 by the merchant Léon-Claude Duhamel and bought by the Turin group in 2004[6]. Duhamel himself told the story of the name this way:

"Our advertising man, Jean Castaign, wanted an American name, while we wanted to call it 'en cas de', in case of. So, after hours of discussion, we found a middle ground in the 'K', which echoed 'cas', and in 'way', which gave it an American sound, very fashionable at the time"

Léon-Claude Duhamel, quoted by Il Post, 2015

With BasicNet the brand's relaunch began: in the first quarter of 2015 its sales grew by 32.8%, to 13 million euros, equal to 10% of the group's turnover[6].

2007 was the turn of Superga, another brand born in Turin: the company had been founded in 1911 by the Italian-naturalised Swiss engineer Walter Martiny, had launched in 1925 the canvas shoe with a vulcanised rubber sole, model 2750, and had passed in 1951 to the Pirelli group. BasicNet repositioned it as an Italian casual-footwear brand, with collaborations with fashion houses such as Comme des Garçons[7]. In 2017 came the helmets and sports eyewear of Briko, founded in 1985 and formerly owned by the Boroli family, taken over for one million euros plus a sales-linked payment, after the group had held exclusive distribution rights since March 2016[8]. Since 2017 Turin has also been home to Sebago, a footwear brand born about eighty years ago in New England[9].

On 12 November 2025 BasicNet announced the purchase of Woolrich from the L-Gam fund, with a total enterprise value of 90 million euros; of the initial consideration of 40 million, 12 million were settled with 1.2 million BasicNet shares, plus a possible deferred payment linked to results over 2026-2028[10]. In December of the same year it was the turn of Sundek, a Californian swimwear brand founded in 1958, which had closed 2025 with turnover of 27 million euros[11].

Disputes and controversies

In 2012 Roma ended its technical sponsorship contract with Kappa four years early, complaining of "serious defects" in the material for the 2012-2013 season. Marco Boglione replied that "the reasons given regarding quality are absolutely spurious and tactical"; the share price fell by more than 7% on the stock exchange and the matter ended up in court[12]. A few months later, in January 2013, the group settled a dispute with the Italian Revenue Agency concerning the years 2006-2009, regarding foreign companies in the Netherlands and Luxembourg holding the brands, whose tax residence the Agency claimed was actually in Italy: the settlement provided for payment of 21 million euros over three years, with a reduction in administrative penalties. The company, while disputing the Agency's position, chose to close the dispute to avoid lengthy litigation; the Agency had also forwarded the findings of its assessment to the Public Prosecutor's Office, which opened a file for tax avoidance[13].

The group today

In March 2019 Boglione, who remained chairman, handed the role of chief executive to Federico Trono, who had been with the group for twelve years; the brands' aggregate sales then stood at 740 million euros[14]. In 2022 consolidated turnover rose to 386.1 million (+30%) and the aggregate sales of products carrying the group's brands reached about 1.27 billion euros (+34.1%)[15]. 2025 closed with consolidated turnover of 415.8 million and worldwide aggregate sales of about 1.2 billion, 80.6% of it generated in Europe[16]. At the time of the Woolrich acquisition the chief executives were Lorenzo and Alessandro Boglione[10]; in the first quarter of 2026 revenue grew by 35.1%, to 132.8 million, driven precisely by the two new brands[17].

The bond with the city remains visible. The first Woolrich shop run directly by the group opened in Turin in the two weeks after the deal was signed, in time for Christmas 2025; presenting the brand's relaunch, Lorenzo Boglione summed up the group's philosophy: "we feel like custodians of the brands, and we are committed to carrying them forward over time"[18]. In September 2026 Sebago organised the second Sebago Rowing Cup at the Murazzi del Po, a university rowing regatta with crews from Oxford, Hamburg, Bilbao and several Italian universities, including the Turin team Young Stars[9], on the river of the capital of Piedmont.

Pages linking here

Related articles: Superga (footwear)

Sources

  1. BasicPress (agenzia stampa del gruppo BasicNet)
  2. BasicNet S.p.A.
  3. BasicNet
  4. Kappa
  5. Pambianco News — 6 June 2011
  6. Il Post — 25 May 2015
  7. Superga
  8. Pambianco News — 5 June 2017
  9. Pambianco News — 21 September 2026
  10. Pambianco News — 12 November 2025
  11. Pambianco News — 17 June 2026
  12. Pambianco News — 27 November 2012
  13. Pambianco News — 10 January 2013
  14. Pambianco News — 7 March 2019
  15. Pambianco News — 10 February 2023
  16. Pambianco News — 12 February 2026
  17. Pambianco News — 30 April 2026
  18. Pambianco News — 15 January 2026

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