Woolrich is the OG American outdoorsy brand and its new owner BasicNet is committed to leverage just that to fuel future growth.
“The Woolrich we envision is the same Woolrich people remember from its golden years. That feeling, for us, is what will drive business growth,” said Lorenzo Boglione, co-chief executive officer of BasicNet, in an interview.
“With the acquisition, we’ve taken on a business along with a brand, but no due diligence was needed on the brand side because Woolrich has such a history and heritage that it requires no introduction. We need to be proud of the archives and its American history,” said Boglione, who shares the CEO role with his brother Alessandro.
As reported in November, the deal involved the acquisition through a wholly owned subsidiary of the rights to the Woolrich brand for Europe and 100 percent of Woolrich Europe SpA, the company managing its distribution and retail activities. Its revenues for fiscal year 2025 are expected to be around 90 million euros.
As a result of the deal, L-Gam exited Woolrich seven years after acquiring the brand in 2018 from its former owner, WP Lavori in Corso.
Throughout its 195-year history, Woolrich has explored many different facets of its universe rooted in the celebrations of Americana, but Boglione believes there’s room for deepening those historical links while deemphasizing recent moves toward high-tech and performance gear.
“We need to have the strength and courage to move in a direction that aligns the future with the brand’s history and heritage, instead of obsessively chasing revenue growth,” Boglione said.
“Our strategy over the next two to three years will not be driven by numbers. This approach has always been our group’s strength, the way we’ve grown other labels in our portfolio,” Boglione said. These include Kappa, Robe di Kappa, K-Way, Superga, Sebago, Briko, and the recently acquired beachwear specialist Sundek.
Woolrich was founded in 1830 by John Rich in Pennsylvania and is one of the oldest American producers of wool fabrics and outdoor clothing. The company was created to provide durable and functional garments for hunters, lumberjacks and railway workers.
In 1850, Woolrich introduced its signature buffalo red and black check pattern. In 1940, responding to the needs of workers building oil pipelines in Alaska, the Arctic parka was born — designed to withstand extreme temperatures and another signature garment for the brand.
Tasked with spearheading the brand’s retooling is Marco Tamponi, a longtime BasicNet executive who was named global brand manager for Woolrich.
“Everything that exists in American outdoor culture began with Woolrich. It was the first brand to transform wool blankets into clothing. Its journey has inspired all the brands that came after it and that adapted to Woolrich’s stylistic codes,” Tamponi said.
“Even the brand’s name itself speaks volumes — ‘The wool of the Rich family’ — and we need to return to the original ethos of the brand, which is reflected in its name. This is particularly timely, given the favorable moment that wool is experiencing, being both high-performing and sustainable, which makes it so relevant right now,” Tamponi offered.
The first signs of BasicNet’s ambitions for the brand is a no-product display at this week’s Pitti Uomo, after a few years’ hiatus when it unveiled its collections with showroom appointments during Milan Fashion Week.
Instead of leveraging the menswear fair to unveil the fall 2026 collection, the company is mounting a gallery-like exhibition retracing Woolrich’s history. Decked in buffalo check wallpapers, the space will be filled with archival catalogues, images, yarn spools, paintings depicting the brand’s founder and his family, among other historical memorabilia.
“It’s a deep dive into the history of this brand, which will define this first phase of our job here: to reaffirm Woolrich’s ownership of iconic pieces and styles,” Tamponi said, mentioning the brand’s signature wool hunting coats, Arctic parka, the buffalo checks, and the 60/40 Mountain parka.
“Along with the brand, BasicNet has acquired an archive, the true heart of the brand’s inspiration. This archive spans eras and periods of outdoor lifestyle and American, East Coast-specific, sportswear. Our nature as a company has never been to simply replicate the archives. The responsibility and challenge for brands like this is to evolve their roots while staying true to themselves. This is the trigger we see for moving the brand forward,” Tamponi said.
The brand’s most recent participation in the fair coincided with the debut of the Woolrich Black Label line under the creative direction of American designer Todd Snyder in 2024. During the interview Boglione revealed that the partnership with Snyder has not been renewed.
“Pitti Uomo remains the leading menswear fair in the world. Perhaps it’s the only one with a truly global reach. There was no better occasion to return to shout about the changes and evolution planned for Woolrich in the years ahead,” Tamponi said.
Starting with the fall 2026 collection being wholesaled this month, the brand is introducing the “Woolrich Woolen Mills” line intended to explore signature styles and materials from the brand’s past. Tamponi said that it will also potentially host co-branded collaborations and partnership.
A preview look from Woolrich men’s fall 2026 collection.
Courtesy of Woolrich
Shortly after the acquisition by BasicNet was revealed, the news was tarnished by a dispute between the new owner and trade unions, which pushed back at the company’s decision to shut Woolrich’s corporate operations in Bologna and Milan and ask its 139 employees to relocate to the group’s headquarters in Turin.
Asked about developments, Boglione said: “It’s a delicate and complex situation, and we’re fully aware of this. We’re handling it with the greatest sensitivity possible. These are complex and lengthy processes that we are trying to navigate. We confirm our commitment to being as generous and flexible as possible, but there is still a need for everyone to eventually work under the same roof in Turin.”
Woolrich’s European sales are generated mainly in Italy and Germany, as well as the Netherlands, Boglione said. The executive sees potential in France and Spain, although for the latter he forecast a need for the brand to expand its spring offering.
Ahead of the BasicNet acquisition, in late 2024, Chinese apparel group Baoxiniao Holding Co. Ltd. acquired Woolrich’s intellectual property rights for all territories outside Europe, as reported.
Boglione said that preliminary conversations have been held with the new partner.
“There is definitely alignment. We wanted to meet them and get to know them because it was important for us to have a shared vision. It’s a very skilled company, and we’ve seen the strategy they’ve developed in China to relaunch the brand. They are careful to [safeguard] the brand’s history, and we believe their vision is similar to ours,” Boglione shared.
BasicNet was founded by Lorenzo and Alessandro Boglione’s father, Marco Boglione, who created the group in 1994 as a marketplace and publicly listed it on the Milan Stock Exchange in 1999.
Stemming from the storied traditional clothing company Maglificio Calzificio Torinese, which was founded in 1916, BasicNet doesn’t produce or distribute the collections of its brands. Billing itself as a “fully web-integrated company” through a digitally advanced platform, it acts as a marketplace where manufacturers and distributors meet to do business.
In particular, BasicNet designs and develops its labels’ collections, signs licensing agreements with international producers and distributors, which receive from BasicNet all they need to manufacture and sell the products, from research and development to global marketing.
