The great history of Kappa and its particular logo.

       Kappa is a very famous sportswear brand that was born in Italy, it was founded in 1916 but it only produced quality underwear and socks, of course it was not called "Kappa" at that time, but it signed on its products as Maglificio Calzificio Torinese. The brand we know today was created in 1967 in Turin.

      In 1916, the Italian Abramo Vitale founded the company Maglificio Calzificio Torinese. They started by making socks, tank tops and other underwear, although over time they expanded their catalog.

       The first Maglificio Calzificio Torinese logo was an image of a flying eagle, holding a circular emblem with the monogram "MCT".

       Then their logo and brand name evolved. The name Kappa is the origin of a somewhat peculiar event. After a mistake in the manufacture of some socks, they decided to mark the new batches without fail with the seal "K-KONTROLL".

       From there they took the letter "K", which in the Greek alphabet is read as "Kappa". They liked the sound of it so much, they decided to start using Kappa as the new name for the brand.

  

 Omini

       The most significant period of time for the brand's visual identity. The famous emblem "Omini" was designed.

       According to Kappa, it all started in a Turin photo studio in 1969. There, behind the camera, Sergio Druetto was leading a swimsuit session when the flash caught. The image portrayed two silhouettes, A boy and a girl, back to back, were captured in the shot against the light and on a white background. CEO Maurizio Vitale decided that this photo would be his logo from then on. He called it 'Omini'.

       Nothing is known about that woman with the logo (how beautiful the mystery) but the man turned out to be Renzo Ricciardo, a 19-year-old model who, in an interview with the GQ group, recounted the experience: "At that time in Turin, there was an explosion I was a young model and thanks to Sergio Druetto, a fashion photographer from Turin, they called me for an advertising campaign for Kappa. " He went down in history without even realizing it.

        At first, the photo - 045/100 series - had been classified as useless. But upon reconsideration, it would later be used as the source behind the celebrated logo. It was a representation of support and equality between men and women.

Kappa and sport

LA84 Olympics:

       In the early 1980s Kappa wanted to bet heavily on sponsorships in the world of sports. One of the significant moments for the brand was the great event of the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

The team of athletes representing the United States wore Kappa garments during the competition. This sponsorship gave him great visibility worldwide.

       In addition, it was during the Olympic Games when the Italian brand first designed clothing decorated with a side band in which the repeated logo appeared. Today it is one of his most characteristic stamps, especially when it comes to tracksuit sets.

       Olympic legends such as Carl Lewis or Florence Griffith-Joyner triumphed on the podium during those games. The son of the wind won four golds and Flo-Jo got a silver medal in the 200 meters. On the podium they shone for their achievements, and they did not go unnoticed with their Kappa signed kits. Without a doubt in those competitions Kappa also won.

Kappa in Soccer:

       But in Spain they have many other Kappa references in their heads. There is the 'Banda', a vertical strip of logos that the brand put on each tracksuit and sportswear. Barça of the 1990s wore it. Soon after, and without leaving football, the Kombat model appeared, an ultra-tight technical shirt that the Italian team made famous. Today, for example, the Naples continues to carry it.

Kappa And His Resurgence

As we already know, this great brand is not recent, it survived a bankruptcy a few decades ago, in 2019 it turned 100 and for some years it disappeared from focus and was almost forgotten. However, he recently received the award for best breakthrough brand of 2017 by the Highsnobiety portal, something that may seem like a huge contradiction. Share space with brands like A Cold Wave, Alyx, Balenciaga, Off-White, Supreme, Domestik, Jacob Kane ... all cool and all modern and very up to date. So what happened to Kappa? Well, as happened with the Champion case, he is living a second youth. Strange but not inexplicable.

The starting point for today's super boom may be in the collection of Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy last summer. Gosha recovered mythical logos from the 80s and 90s like Kappa, Fila or Sergio Tacchini. It happens that this has become global because the creators who now dictate young fashion are precisely from that time and their references are in those years and those aesthetics, not in older ones. After Gosha, collaborations with Opening Ceremony, C2H4 and Kinfolk arrived, placing their return on the front line. Of course there are limited editions that are hard to come by, but there are also plenty of affordable clothing that also sports the Kappa logo. Success was clear.

According to the data provided by GQ by the brand itself, Kappa currently has 150 of its own stores worldwide; 80 licenses and 700 points of sale in 120 countries. That is, half the world full of that strange logo with two silhouettes.

The case of Kappa is one of the most significant of brands that are regaining momentum thanks to a new generation that understands fashion from another perspective: that of streetwear as a starting point for everything. The street, today, is the one that tells what happens on the catwalk and not the other way around.