Originally, a technical breakthrough – garment-dyeing technique invented by Luciano and a
dyer from Treviso in 1963 – was the start of Benetton’s development. Traditionally, in the entire
knitwear industry, woolen sweaters were knitted with colored yarn. This could be very risky if the
chosen color was no longer fashionable when the products reached retail store shelves. Moreover, it
was impossible to anticipate the customer’s response. In order to avoid this drawback and to increase
responsiveness Benetton woolen sweaters were knitted with uncolored natural grey yarn. They were
dyed just before shipping time, according to the prevailing tastes at the moment of the sale. This
process was slightly more expensive, but it enabled Benetton to manufacture and store ‘neutral’
products, which were finished only a few weeks before they were sold. Of course, this worked only
with solid color wool or cotton clothes. It did not allow patterns. Therefore, Benetton’s style did not
rest on the cut of clothes – which was very classic – but on vivid plain colors, which were renewed
every year. Hence the pun ‘United Colors of Benetton’, which signaled both a multi-racial philosophy
and the absence of patterns. In 1992, Benetton knitwear used sixty different shades and casual
garments one hundred and fifty.