Carlo Stefanel

Carlo Stefanel, founder of the Stefanel Corporation in Ponte di Piave, is the archetype of the native Treviso son who became a successful entrepreneur on the strength of ideas, energy, business acumen, precision and integrity.

Born in Ponte di Piave (near Treviso) on November 15, 1925, he was a self made man and overcame hurdles of every persuasion. He is easily classified as that distinctive breed of local entrepreneur, partly because of his spirit and determination, but mostly because of two complementary qualities. One of these, a sense of duty, was taught to him by his family. The other he learned from his own lifestyle: the ability to see thriftiness for the sense of security it provides whenever needed.

Starting a business in the fifties was no simple matter. So how did Carlo Stefanel launch his career? “I had lots of ideas," he explained in 1986, when his company was about to go public, "and I was able to start out on my own thanks to the faith and financial support of a friend whom I will never thank enough. I had learned something about business at my aunts' spinning mill in Oderzo, and from one of my four siblings, and I decided it was time to move forward. A sixth sense told me to hang in there, that one day I'd be rewarded. My determination, fairness, and financial dealings with suppliers and customers proved me right, and today Stefanel is a large and healthy company. Deep down, however, I think it all boils down to two fundamental qualities that have always seen me through: humility and respect for others."

Carlo Stefanel recalled that in 1947 and for the next 10 years, he would ride his bicycle to San Donà di Piave, Conegliano, Portogruaro, San Stino di Livenza and Treviso to work the weekly markets. “From a stall less than two yards long he sold wool by the weight, skeins of raw product, a 'home-style' blend of one or more yarns. It was hard work, but it got him moving in the right direction. Soon he turned in my handlebars for the steering wheel of a three speed 'Balilla', converted into a little truck that got him from one town to another. Then, in Brescia, he had the chance to buy four Daplu type knitting machines on installment. He set them up at home in Oderzo, and got down to business."

He opened his first company, called Maglificio Piave, which operated successfully on the wholesale knitwear market. In 1980 he founded Stefanel and turned it into a stock corporation during the next two years. At that point his two children, Giuseppe and Giovanna, joined him on the job.

It was an exciting period of growth, when the company adopted modern technologies and new market strategies, including franchising. Siena was the location of the first Stefanel store, followed two years later by Paris.

Until the day he died, on June 21, 1987, Carlo Stefanel was a constant presence at his firm. “I like working," he once said, "and a day doesn't pass that I don't stop by at the company to coordinate things, to make my contribution to its wellbeing and further growth."

Giuseppe Stefanel

He was born on 31 August 1952 in Ponte di Piave, Italy. He is married and has two children, Eleonora and Carlo.

In 1984 he became managing director and in 1987 chairman of Stefanel S.p.A., a company listed on the Milan stock exchange since 1987, and a global player in the textile-clothing industry. Gruppo Stefanel's overall consolidated revenues totalled € 182,8m at 31.12.2010. The group employees approximately 1630 people.

Following his secondary school commercial/accounting studies, during the 70’s Giuseppe Stefanel enrolled at the Department of Economics and Commerce of the University of Venice and, at the same time, joined his father’s firm, Maglificio Piave. He firstly worked mainly on the production side, where he acquired a solid experience in textile and yarn processes, especially regarding the quality of the finished product.

As part of the company’s radical reorganization in the Seventies, he developed a new clothing line for younger people (Linea Sigma), which was added to Maglificio Piave’s traditional products and set the firm on a new course.

In 1979 he realized that the Stefanel family name could be adopted as a trademark, giving rise to the Stefanel brand, whose innovative industrial, distribution and financial strategies were to prove its strong point. This launched the process that would ultimately establish Stefanel as one of the top, internationally recognized Italian labels.

Giuseppe Stefanel introduced franchise retailing in 1980 and the first Stefanel franchise was opened in Siena. The network now covers over 500 franchise stores around the world, about 175 of which is owned-leased and managed by Group.

He’s presently heading a deep company renewal process to transform the Stefanel brand into an "industrial griffe".

In June 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Degree in Economics of International Trade from the University Ca’ Foscari in Venice.

Already Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine ‘Al merito della Repubblica Italiana’ (Grand Officer of the order ‘To the merit of Italian Republic’) from 1996, he was nominated Cavaliere del Lavoro (Cavalier of Labour) by the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, on the 2nd of June 2006.