United Colors of Benetton taps Andrea Incontri as new creative director

Italian brand United Colors of Benetton has named Andrea Incontri as the new creative director of its women’s, men’s, and children’s collections.

“I am very honored to join Benetton,” the Italian designer said in a statement.

He described it as “a company, a brand, a creative and product philosophy whose story has great meaning both to my personal and professional training and to the history of Italy as a whole, and not just in the fields of industry and fashion”.

An architecture graduate, Incontri launched his own eponymous fashion label in 2009, and also served as creative director of Italian luxury group Tod's between 2014 and 2019.

Incontri continued: “I take great pride in accepting this appointment because it allows me to participate in a project of values that involves not only clothing, but a wide range of cultural issues concerning the variable aspects of modern humanism.”

New creative lead at Benetton

The first pieces by Incontri will be seen in the SS23 collection presented at Milan Fashion Week in September. Before that though, a new advertising campaign under Incontri’s artistic direction will be launched in August to showcase the brand’s FW22/23 collections.

Massimo Renon, chief executive officer of Benetton Group, commented: “We take great pride in the fact that Andrea Incontri is joining the large Benetton ‘family’ because in him we have recognized the will, enthusiasm and research that will enable exceeding the goals that characterized the birth and history of our brand.”

He said Incontri’s arrival “will bring new energy to a success story, one of a company and brand that wish to make a generational change and guide Italian industry in these years in which a redefinition of the social role of fashion and clothing appears urgent”.

United Colors of Benetton was founded in 1965 and is known for its bright colours and knitwear.