Renzo Rosso – Billionaire

Renzo Rosso (born 15 September 1955) is an Italian fashion entrepreneur. Referred to as the “Jeans Genius” by Suzy Menkes, he is the President of OTB Group, the parent company of Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni, Paula Cademartori, Viktor & Rolf, Staff International (manufacturer and distributor of DSquared², Just Cavalli, Maison Margiela, Marni and Vivienne Westwood), and Brave Kid (manufacturer and distributor of Diesel Kid, Dsquared², John Galliano Kids, Marni and Trussardi Junior). Founder of the Only The Brave Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, Rosso is also the President of Red Circle investments; the Diesel Farm in Marostica, Veneto; the Pelican Hotel in Miami; and Bassano Virtus 55 S.T., the professional soccer club of his hometown Bassano del Grappa, Veneto.

Early life

Rosso was born in the village of Brugine in the northeastern Italian region of Veneto. His parents were farmers and he grew up under simple conditions, regularly helping his father after school. Having seen the laborious life required for a farmer, Rosso aspired to do something different from his parents and in 1970 began studying industrial Textile Manufacturing at the Marconi Technical Institute in Padua. There, he produced, at the age of 15, his first self-designed garment, a pair of low-waist bell-bottomed jeans using his mother’s Singer sewing machine. He kept experimenting with different jeans models and would give each pair to friends or sell them at school for about 3500 lire. In 1973 he began studying Economics at the University of Venice and in addition to helping his father on the farm, he financed his studies also by working as a mechanic and as a carpenter.

Diesel

Beginnings of Diesel

The brand name Diesel was chosen because ‘diesel’ was considered to be the ‘alternative fuel’ in the oil crisis, and Rosso and Goldschmied liked the idea of their brand being perceived as an alternative jeans brand in contrast to the prevalent casual wear brands. Furthermore, since the word was an international term pronounced equally all over the world, it appealed to Rosso’s view that the global fashion market was not segmented by national borders, but by people’s lifestyle. In 2004, after having followed those core values for nearly 20 years, CNN accredited Diesel for being “the first brand to believe truly in the global village and to embrace it with open arms.” In an article by The NY Times in August 2013, it was estimated that Diesel had sold more than 100,000,000 jeans since 1978.

Source:wikipedia