Guru

Italian brand of clothing for young people. Matteo Cambi of Parma was the mastermind of this project which began with a Collection of twenty T-shirts for men and women and reached sales volume of nearly 70 million Euros after just a few years. In 1999, Cambi had the idea of creating a line of T-“shirts and leisure wear inspired by the world of surfing with a short, punchy, easy-to-remember logo. It was not until 2000 that he had the idea that would bring real success to the small Parma-based company that had been founded in the meanwhile, Jam Session. This was the famous daisy which would become the Guru logo and would sell, that first Summer, 200,000 T-“shirts. The only “failure” of the original projects was that, in reality, Cambi had hoped to create an alternative to a conformist style of dress. Something to wear everyday, without becoming a label. But in reality the numbers obtained and the wishes of the young man could not be reconciled. While in 2001 he sold 200,000 T-“shirts, in 2003 the numbers rose to well over three million, making, in 2004, more than 70 million Euros of turnover. After winning a place in nearly all the European markets in 2005 Japan, the U.S., Russia, and Great Britain began to show an interest in Guru. China and India are the targets for 2006. In 2003 Guru Gang was founded, the line for little people, from the ages of 4 to 14, covering 15 percent of the overall volume. In 2005, during Pitti Bimbo, the baby line debuted, from 0 to 36 monts. In the same year, the company debuted GxG, a project for high-level denim produced in Japan and Italy. It included a complete look line and was presented in January at the Bread and Butter fair, and will be distributed in just 1,000 select shops. The Guru universe includes a name-brand license with Fabio Briatore: the Billionaire Collection which bears the logo of the famous club of Porto Cervo. Sponsorships have helped to spread brand-awareness. The first sponsorship was of the Parma soccer team, followed in 2004 by Formula One, with sponsorship of the Renault team and in particular the racer Fernando Alonso.