Antonio Percassi (born 9 June 1953) is an Italian former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
and entrepreneur.
He is president of the holding company Odissea Srl which includes the cosmetics brands
KIKO Milano, Madina and Womo, formerly the Orio Center shopping center, and
Atalanta B.C.
Football career
Atalanta player
Percassi made his debut as a footballer for the
Atalanta
Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...
when he was seventeen. His sports career ended when he was 23, when he left to pursue his career as an entrepreneur.
Atalanta owner
In June 2010, Antonio Percassi returned as president (chairman) of Atalanta, a position he held from 1990–1994.
Business career
![Villa Schubiger, Bergamo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Villa_Schubiger%2C_Bergamo.jpg)
This marked the beginning of the Percassi activities in the retail field, and a thirty-year collaboration with the Benetton family. Over the years Percassi headed the development of the most important brands, United Colors, Zerdodici, Sisley, and Playlife, in the Italian and international markets.
The collaboration with Benetton was the first major partnership responsible for the growth of Percassi.
Other collaborations in the retail development field include those with the
Swatch
Swatch is a Swiss watchmaker founded in 1983 by Ernst Thomke, Elmar Mock, and Jacques Müller. It is a subsidiary of The Swatch Group. The Swatch product line was developed as a response to the "quartz crisis" of the 1970s and 1980s, in which i ...
,
Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
,
Levi
Levi (; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron, Moses and M ...
,
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
,
Guess
A guess (or an act of guessing) is a swift conclusion drawn from data directly at hand, and held as probable or tentative, while the person making the guess (the guesser) admittedly lacks material for a greater degree of certainty. A guess is als ...
, and
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.
After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...
brands, in addition to luxury brands such as
Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...
,
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
and
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren, ( ; ; born October 14, 1939) is an American fashion designer, philanthropist, and billionaire businessman, best known for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, a global multibillion-dollar enterprise. He has become well known for his co ...
.
In 2012, Percassi bought Madina, the historic make up brand founded in 1993 by Intercos, and Percassi founded Womo, the men’s body care brand.
In 1997, Antonio Percassi has also ventured into the cosmetics market with the brand Kiko Make Up Milano, with the help of his son Stefano. The Kiko brand has a prestigious reputation and experienced rapid international expansion.
Then, in 2001, Percassi joined with the
Inditex Group
Industria de Diseño Textil, S.A. (Inditex; , ; ) is a Spanish multinational clothing company headquartered in Arteixo, Galicia, in Spain. Inditex, the biggest fast fashion group in the world, operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwi ...
, to bring the
Zara brand into the Italian market. The first Zara megastore opened in the
Corso Vittorio Emanuele Corso may refer to:
* Corso (surname)
* Corso, Boumerdès, a commune in Boumerdès Province, Algeria
* Council of Organisations for Relief Service Overseas, see Jenny Gill
* Via del Corso, a main street in Rome
* "CORSO," a song by rapper Tyler, th ...
in Milan. Additional stores have been opened up.
In 2007, Antonio Percassi partnered with designer Flavio Briatore in developing the luxury-clothing brand, Billionaire Italian Couture.
One of the management strategies of Percassi has been the inter-development between the retail development and real estate development. This has led to the development of major development projects including the Orio Center Shopping Center, the Antegnate Shopping Center in Bergamo, and the Sicily Outlet Village in Agira.
Other projects
Percassi has worked in collaboration with the Westfield group in opening the Westfield Milan Shopping Center in Milan. This shopping center is stated to be the largest shopping center in Europe.
Percassi is also involved in a commercial and residential initiative in the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA.
In September 2009, Antonio Percassi was awarded an “Honorary Degree” in Construction Engineering from the
University of Bergamo
The University of Bergamo ( it, Università degli Studi di Bergamo; acronym: UniBG) is an Italian public university located in Bergamo, Italy. It was founded on 11 December 1968 and is organized in seven departments, three campuses and forty-one ...
.
In October 2013, Antonio Percassi purchased
Crespi d'Adda
Crespi d'Adda is a village in northern Italian and hamlet (''frazione'') of Capriate San Gervasio, a municipality in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy. It is a historic settlement and an outstanding example of the 19th and early 20th-century "com ...
(a
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
) in order to convert into the headquarters for the Percassi Business group as well as the headquarters for the new Antonio Percassi Family Foundation. Percassi planned to renovate the settlement beginning in January 2014 and make it his company's new headquarters, as well as a research center, cultural center and headquarters for the newly created Antonio Percassi Family Foundation.
Personal life and family
Antonio Percassi has six children, five of whom have been involved in the operations of the various Percassi companies. His son Stefano Percassi is CEO of KIKO and Billionaire Italian Couture, and his sons Matteo and Luca manage major Real Estate development projects (Luca is also CEO of Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio). His daughters Giuliana and Federica are involved in Percassi retail operations. His youngest son, Michael was born in January 2013. In February 2013, Stefano and Luca were both named Vice President of the Odissea S.r.l. holding group.
Honours
*
Italian Football Hall of Fame
The Italian Football Hall of Fame ( it, Hall of Fame del calcio italiano) is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football.
It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Ital ...
: 2019
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Percassi, Antonio
Living people
1953 births
Italian businesspeople
Italian football chairmen and investors