Kappa Brand History

Image sourced from dazeddigital.com
Kappa was founded as a sock and underwear company in 1916 in the Italian city Turin.
In the 1950s the Maglificio Calzificio Torinese (MCT), a leading manufacturer of socks and underwear in Italy, created Kappa, a sub-brand of the Aquila brand, as a result of a production problem that had caused a loss in sales. MCT launched a renewed and improved product line which would be tagged K (Kontrollen) in an attempt to achieve new credibility with regard to quality.

In the mid-1950s, Kappa had become a consolidated brand, and in Italy became the undisputed leader in the socks and underwear sector. In 1969 the textile industry was hit by a recession, in a period marked by social change. MCT responsed by diversifying production. The students’ movement in the late 1960s had introduced the concept of casual wear, and MCT decided to produce outerwear, based on the success of the firm’s best-selling brand. Robe di Kappa was born.

Marco Boglione joined MCT in 1976 at the age of 20. Under Boglione's prompting, MCT had expanded into sportswear at the end of the 1970s, sponsoring soccer teams such as Turin's Juventus and Amsterdam's Ajax.

The history of the Omini logo

The Omini logo was created in 1969 when, during a photo shoot for the Beatrix bathing suits (another MCT brand catalogue), photographers realised
they had created a new logo for the Kappa brand. The image was of a young man and woman, both naked and sitting back to back, their outlines traced by back lighting. In the end the shot was not used in the catalogue. Instead, it became the new Robe di Kappa logo. When in the late 1970s that MCT made the move into sportswear and technical sports gear, the Kappa brand would feature the Omini logo, which by now had become a recognised symbol of quality and style.

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