Benetton, 1965

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Benetton – Colours Of The World
It was the end of an era for one sector as cigarette advertising on TV was banned. For the clothing and retail sector it was boom time. Carnaby Street had become the epicentre in London for fashionable boutique stores and Twiggy had modelled the first-ever plastic dress.

It was in Veneto, Italy where the tale of another retail clothing brand was blossoming. Luciano Benetton, a Treviso salesman spotted the opportunity for colourful clothing and ten years after he knitted his first collection of jumpers, the Benetton Group was born.

The concept of united colours was always central to Benetton’s brand. By 1965, the brand had developed a procedure to dye finished garments rather than unwoven fibres enabling it to react more quickly to fashion trends. Benetton adopted its slogan, “United Colours of Benetton” as its logo and for the first time in the history of commercial trademarks, the slogan became a trademark.

A bowler hat hero called Fred became the long-standing star of Homepride Flour appearing on its packaging for the first time. John le Mesurier, the actor from Dad’s Army provided the original voice for the animated TV ad. He also narrated Bod. Fred is still going strong today.

As Coronation Street became the most watched programme on TV, children were decorating pieces of papers with mad swirls and sweeps thanks to a new toy called the Spirograph.

1965 Snapshot
Books: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Events: 50,000 more US troops sent to Vietnam; millions watch space probe crash on moon; Krays in custody
Films: Dr Zhivago
Music: Rolling Stones sing “I can’t get No Satisfaction”; The Who sings “My Generation”