 | |
| Industry | Clothing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1876; 150 years ago (1876) |
| Founder | Gianni Vittore |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Key people | Armando Castelli[1] |
| Products | Jerseys, jackets, shorts, t-shirts |
| Parent | Manifattura Valcismon Spa |
| Website | castelli-cycling.com |
Castelli is an Italian brand of sports clothing and accessories based inFonzaso inVeneto. Castelli is a company specializing incycling andtriathlon clothing. Castelli brand products are characterized by alogo representing a whitescorpion inside a red circle.
In 1876, Gianni Vittore opened a shop inMilan where he made clothes by hand for businessmen, for the Milanese ballet troupe and football teams such asMilan andJuventus.Alfredo Binda, winner of theGiro d'Italia several times, was one of his customers.
In 1935, Armando Castelli joined Gianni's staff, in the same year he decided to buy the company where he worked and to keep Gianni Vittore's clientele, includingGino Bartali andFausto Coppi.[1]
Castelli expanded the production by supplying various teams and in the following years even the great stars of cycling such asLouison Bobet,Rik Van Looy andJacques Anquetil wore Castelli clothing.
In 1948 Maurizio, Armando's son, was born, and from an early age was captivated by sportswear, learning the trade from his father. The two did not get along for a long time; the traditionalist ways of the father clashed with the creativity of the son, so Maurizio in 1974 gave life to his own company which he called Castelli and choosing ascorpion as his emblem.
In 1977, he had the intuition to introduceLycra, a revolutionary elastic material at that time used only by skiers, for cycling shorts. Inspired by the success of the Lycra shorts, Maurizio continued to apply his skills in cycling. Champions such asEddy Merckx,Bernard Hinault,Francesco Moser,Giuseppe Saronni,Ercole Baldini andSilvio Martinello chose Castelli clothing for their races. Maurizio was a pioneer of sublimation dyeing which made it possible to have colours, logos and graphics on a technical fabric. On 9 November 1979, Castelli was awarded the gold Discobolus, a prestigious award from Corriere dello Sport – Stadio.
In 1981, Maurizio dressed his cyclists in turquoise Lycra shorts, when at the time only black shorts were allowed, so the riders showed up at the starting line creating an unexpected explosion of colour but then had to change their shorts.
In 1995, Maurizio Castelli died suddenly at the age of 47 due to a heart attack while cycling on theCipressa. In 1996, at theOlympic Games in Atlanta,Paola Pezzo wore Castelli, winning the gold medal inmountain bike. Castelli was the first brand to embark on an entirely women's collection for cycling. In 1997 Castelli revolutionised the cycling seat pad, giving life to Progetto Y.
1999, marked Castelli's return to professional cycling with the Spanish teamONCE-Deutsche Bank. In the following decade, riders such asLaurent Jalabert,Carlos Sastre andAndrea Peron wore Castelli, as well as many important teams such asRoslotto,Refin Ceramiche,Tenax,Tinkoff andSaunier Duval.
In 2003, Giordano Cremonese, president of Manifattura Valcismon, the parent company of the Sportful brand, decided to buy Castelli and transfer it fromRosate toFonzaso.
In 2009, Castelli became part of the supplier brands ofCervélo TestTeam which included, among others,Carlos Sastre,Thor Hushovd andHeinrich Haussler. In 2017 Castelli became an official sponsor of Team Sky, which later becameTeam Ineos in 2019. In 2018 they signed a deal to sponsor theGiro d'Italia's jerseys signing a four-year contract.[2]
In 2021, they announced they would be ending their sponsorship with Team Ineos and began sponsoringQuick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team starting in 2022.[3]
