Press Releases

WOMAN COLLECTION

Delightfully glamorous with minimalist passions. This is the United Colors of Benetton woman for next spring-summer. A collection of carefully-studied elegance which is deceptively simple. A collection of sophisticated colours, definitive moods, details that are never banal, styles that are carefully cut and constructed and always very now with a clear feeling for changing fashions.

City Harmony – A relaxed formal: the urban wardrobe allows itself a few diversions. The suede trench and short leather jacket are worn with flowing linen trousers and wide pleated skirts. Casual trousers team up with shirts with a plastron, flounces and balloon sleeves. Short, gathered skirts combine lace and jersey. Plain or striped cotton or cashmere knitwear is ultra-light. The palette is neutral and pale, restful and soothing.
Softly Light - The look of Audrey Hepburn on “Roman Holiday”. Haute couture coats and little dresses from the Fifties. Frilly little floral chiffon skirts. A-line short jackets and flowing knitted dresses. Textured linens and cottons together with sheer silks in palest pastels just a shade away from white.
Energy Cosmic - Strong colours, technical fabrics. Bright, sunny stripes, ginghams or plain colours. Glazed or micro-sanded raincoats, cabans or windcheaters with casual, soft lines. Comfortable shorts, Bermudas and pedal-pushers. All shades of denim given all kinds of treatments.
St. Tropez - The BB mood and colours are back after fifty years. White and mint and white and cornflower blue colour a wardrobe dominated by bubble shapes. Beachwear outfits in fabrics as light as voiles, in cotton muslin which imitates organza. Backgrounds are in plain colours or with bandanna-style Provençal patterns.
Country Style - Fruity colours and floral designs: the romantic style turns to nature. Central-printed soft overwear and empire-line dresses. Pinks are matched with magnet grey, pinenut-white and almond-beige. Soft fabrics and textured linens create a classic, retro style.

MAN COLLECTION

United Colors of Benetton's eternal youth looks to tradition for his future dress style. This attitude is consolidated, season after season, with innovative expressions and consequences. It is style revisitations, in-depth fabric studies, colour research and cultural stimulants from a global world that make the difference between a revival of the past and an up-to-date vision of male fashions.

Lost in Translation - Japanese severity and New York minimalism: formalwear goes modern. Close-fitting yet comfortable lines are everywhere: the short jacket with or without a host of details; the ¾-length raincoat, the wear-for-any-occasion trousers and the two- or three-button blazers. A light, V-neck pullover is often worn instead of a shirt, losing nothing in elegance. City-pallor colours: grey, white, beige with lime or lilac accents.
British Horse Racing - Could the British style possibly be missing from the male wardrobe? Bright jockey-silk colours: red, green, blue and white. Casual trousers and Bermudas, regimental-stripe piqué polo shirts, yarn-dyed bookmaker shirts with contrast collars, hi-tech windcheaters and tartan raincoats.
Legione Straniera - Desert colours, a daredevil air, army equipment. A summer theme full of light, sun and life lived to the full: crushed fabrics, heavily textured cottons dominated by extreme washes, highly-detailed outsized casualwear. Skilfully executed dirty-washes, especially on denim. Safari jackets, suede bomber jackets and 40s-style blazers for unexpected desert rendezvous.
Jamaica - Salsa and reggae rhythms, palm-tree shade, thirst-quenching iced drinks: a picture of high summer. The wardrobe follows suit and centres around shorts and Bermudas in all sorts of colours, plus flowery shirts. Cottons and muslins, of course, but in bright, almost reckless colours.
Ocean Drive - Florida in its heyday: Sixties' luxury and snazziness. High Society styles with cotton-satin blazers and slim-fit linen or cotton trousers. Shirts and T-shirts display patterns of stripes or inlays. All in pale, powdery pastels.

ACCESSORIES COLLECTION

The UCB accessories collection displays a winning, lively variety of bright, sunny colours. An exuberance of turquoise, cornflower blue and Mediterranean white and red; of Caribbean yellow, green, purple and orange; of savannah beige and gold. Everything is illuminated by the reflective surfaces of patents, coatings, bondings, pvc film coatings: materials and techniques which polish, reflect, shine.
Therefore, ultra-high courts match box-sack bags; laminated faux leather compact evening bags with a chain handle; a range of pvc film-coated satin shoppers with faux leather reinforcements or another of coated-linen shoppers in boiled-sweet colours; glossy, fruit-printed pvc large bags; sequin-covered bags. And sparkling feet: seductive, wicker-wedged canvas sandals decorated with tiny golden spheres, diamante flip-flops or the super-colourful, ultra-casual patent-and-mesh B-06 sneakers.
The range of leather, suede and laminate sneakers and linen/suede bags with cord-and-Lurex handles marks the transition to another seasonal trend which replaces glossiness with silkiness. Total suede for real moccasins and unlined boots, for cork-wedged sandals matched with soft, split-leather bags. The printed, embroidered canvas used for beach bags is equally silky and soft.
The branded range is an ever-fashionable classic, now with a new positive/negative jacquard-woven "B": handbags, sacks and even travel bags.
His accessories display classic elegance in neutral, summery shades. From leather and suede sneakers with contrast-colour bands to unlined leather moccasins with visible seams; from flat leather sandals with an ethnic print on the insole to hand-topstitched leather lace-ups.
As for his bags, simplicity and practicality are the bywords: two-tone nylon and faux leather courier bags, large and small canvas or faux crocodile travel bags.

ACCESSORIES COLLECTION: THE TIME HAS COME FOR B.B.1

United Colors of Benetton presents a new monogram for accessories and similar, in keeping with a trend beloved of fashion lovers the world over. The time has come for B.B.1.
Benetton chooses the order and combination, using four Bs arranged clockwise to form a four-sided shape. The graphic effect does the rest and repeats the basic square endlessly in a play of light and shadow, positive and negative. A basketweave of supreme simplicity and great effect. The new B.B.1 design is executed in jacquard fabric in basic colours – white, black, chestnut – and in seasonal shades: mauve, ice, golden beige, indigo denim. Teamed with faux leather details, it takes the shapes of handbags, little shoulder bags, shoppers, make-up bags, belts, berets, wallets, purses and even uppers for wooden sabots.
B.B.1 will be on sale in selected UCB stores and in Accessories stores.

CHILDREN’S COLLECTION

Freshness, simplicity, light-heartedness. These are the ingredients of United Colors of Benetton's collection for the children of the world: an unfussy fashion universe focused on colour and on the latest trends.

Girl

New navy - The little sailor girl wears colours and stripes on her world cruise: lots of classic white mixed with red, yellow and blue. A high-waisted jacket or a trench coat for spring overwear; mini skirts and cotton or denim shorts paired with T-shirts and cardigans full of anchors, stripes and polka-dots worthy of a fashion show on a jetty.
Color spring - Scrumptious colours straight from the sweet jar: dungarees in all sizes and little jackets with a rounded yoke are this theme's key pieces. They team up with embroidery-mad T-shirts, heart-decorated sweatshirts and all shades of denim.
Smart girl - Teenager and street, two moods in one: washed jeans in shades of pale blue and grey; lilac or purple T-shirts full of script motifs, prints and crazy decorations. Even the youngest can flaunt glittering details.
Petite jolie - Sweetly romantic without exaggeration: little gathers, micro dots, light muslins, hearts and little mascots from the Sixties. And all in white, grey, pink and soft, faded denim.
Mediterraneo - Souvenirs from a Greek island: azure blue and chalk white. Poplin, muslin, seersucker, plumetis and broderie anglaise for tops, sun dresses, Bermudas and loose blouses decorated with floral sprays, dots and thin stripes.
Sunny days - Everything for the beach, in ice-cream shades: shorts, sun dresses, rompers, pedal pushers, miniskirts, T-shirts and piqué polo shirts. Showers of sequins, glitter scripts and laminated prints shine in the sun.

Boy

Spring city - A charming casual look. Slim-fit trousers and short jackets in white, blue and dove-grey. Beautiful yarn-dyed, classic striped shirts borrowed from dad's wardrobe. Sweaters and gabardine blazers for all.
Sport club - The myth of American football with its correlated range of sweatshirts, T-shirts and polo shirts. A reversible quilted jacket and a feather-padded waistcoat for cool days. Script motifs, numbers and elegant details.
Back to nature - Let's go camping: camouflage trousers; comfy, washed jeans; and layered sweatshirts. Earthy and woody soft colours.
Locker room - A retro style with a bit of American Graffiti. Blue jeans faded through time and play, plus T-shirts in a full range of colours with cartoon mascot placement prints.
Treasure Island - The style of elegant treasure hunters: impeccable cotton cargo pants and T-shirts with pale, sand-coloured galleons.
Malibù - Beachwear in bright colours just a nuance away from fluorescent. Multi-pocket check or camouflage bermudas worn with tropical T-shirts or little tartan shirts.

New born

The basic layette is in dark blue, together with pink for her and pale blue for him. The rest is all in the latest style and colour fashions borrowed from the grown-ups.

For little girls, Miss blue is the more elegant range featuring little cotton dresses with micro designs, embroidered chambray dungarees and striped jackets in dark blue, coral and yellow. Miss bijoux plays with red and brown basic colours in linen and cotton, propounds a decorative trompe l’oeil and goes as far as a tender denim bolero. Miss light is a summery range of light muslins and crochet openwork in pink, lilac, coral and touches of aqua. Miss sun is all about the beach – sun dresses in muslin and broderie anglaise, madras and coloured stripes.

Four ranges for little boys: Little ace features amusing pinstripe trousers, T-shirts with a trompe l’oeil tie, and a crushed nylon jacket; Little stone has army styles and colours: from cargo pants and denim jackets to camouflage trousers. Little sea is for scaled-down surfers: discoloured denim, faded prints and watery hues; Little sports has items typical of all the indoor sports, including fake boxing gloves slung around the neck.

For further information:
www.benetton.com
www.benettongroup.com/press

November 2008