Mario Manenti
ROLE
Fashion Design Expert
NATIONALITY
Italian
LANGUAGES
Italian
QUALIFICATION
Fashion Expert
DESCRIPTION
Mario was born in May 1940 as the youngest son of an important and large family from Bergamo, initially dedicated to agriculture and commerce and that in the following years has diversified its range of action in many sectors and activities: from machinery for cleaning tiles to fashion, from construction and real estate to cosmetics, etc. Mario graduated with honors from ITIS Esperia in 1959 where he later collaborated as a teacher in technical subjects; he married Gabriella in February 1971 and had two children, Fabio, in May 1973, and Rossella, in February 1977.
After an initial apprenticeship in the workshop where he held various positions from welding to mechanics, from electronics to molding, etc., and military service in Merano in the Alpine corps, Mario began his professional career in support of the family business, starting from the factory to become over the years an experienced technical and commercial manager first and then a successful entrepreneur.
1964 / 2014 COMMERCIAL MANAGER OF THE FAMILY COMPANY MABO SPA
Management and strategic and operational support to the commercial and promotional activities of Mabo Spa, opened in 1952 in Bergamo by his elder sister Maria Manenti and her husband Edoardo Signorelli and managed together with their eldest son Adriano after the tragic death of the founder in 1972. Historical company in the fashion industry, known and appreciated at international level, specialized in the design, production and commercialization all over the world of buttons and other articles for clothing.
The numbers of Mabo are significant: more than 150 employees, working in five operative sites distributed among Italy, Eastern Europe, China and London. Since 1990 the headquarter of the group is located in Telgate, in the province of Bergamo, in the middle of an industrial area highly specialized in the production of this fashion item known as the “Button District” and unique in our country. In Italy alone the three factories of the Mabo group occupy a production area of over 18,000 square meters. The branches abroad were born to follow directly the customers and to be able to offer them a service suitable to the needs of the local market. Mabo designs and realizes most of its models developing the ideas and the requests of the single customer, through a direct relationship with the same and can count on an important and wide sample book in continuous updating. The planning, from the study of the idea to the drawing, up to the prototype, all takes place inside the company and, just for this reason, Mabo is able to offer to its customers a personalized advice, of shape and style. In addition to the seat in Telgate, the branches and warehouses Mabo currently opens are: Mabo Carpi in Modena, Zama Italia srl in Bergamo, MaboTex Impex srl in Bucharest (Romania), Mabo U.A. in Kiev (Ukraina), Mabo Trading Shanghai co. Ltd in Shanghai (China), Jessica Buttons in London (UK), etc. Website: www.mabo.it/en.
Mario has also collaborated in the implementation of production, logistics and research & development activities, as well as in the evaluation and definition of commercial and marketing strategies, in addition to the organization and participation in many national and international trade fairs and promotional events in the sector, etc., not to mention his valuable support for the development of many other projects in the fashion sector and beyond, both in Italy and abroad.
1982 / 2012 COMMERCIAL MANAGER AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE FAMILY COMPANY GABRIELLE DI MORANDI GABRIELLA
Founded in 1982 together with his wife Gabriella, and based in Grumello del Monte in the province of Bergamo, Gabrielle di Morandi Gabriella is a company specialising in the design, production and marketing of belts, buttons and accessories for the clothing industry, as well as consultancy in the textile and fashion sectors. Gabrielle controls all stages of the production cycle, from raw materials to the final product, and ensures its customers exclusive products and services. Seriousness, professionalism and great knowledge of this market are the strengths of a company that has been supplying for almost 30 years high quality products and with a particular attention to continuous innovation, offering an excellent customer service, and that has collaborated with many of the big national and international fashion and retail brands, creating hundreds of customized collections on their request. Opening together with her son Fabio and her partner Bob Zonneveld of the Gabrielle Benelux branch in Haarlem (Holland) for the promotion and sale of Gabrielle products in Northern Europe. Website: www.gabrielle-fashion.nl.
The Gabrielle company has collaborated closely with the Mabo company, guaranteeing its customers an innovative, complete and constantly updated range of products, as well as constant and professional consultancy support, representing for them a sure point of support and a trusted strategic partner.
Mario and Gabriella have managed and developed with great passion and competence this family business for almost 30 years, supported by their children Fabio and Rossella.
1964 / 2019 BUSINESS AS A PROFESSIONAL AND COMMERCIAL BROKER
Activities of technical advice and commercial promotion of various products in the clothing industry and beyond, working with the best producers “made in Italy” in the sector. Mario has become over the years a reference both technical and commercial fashion industry, not only in Italy, thanks to his competence and his professionalism. In addition to the fashion industry, Mario has however been interested in the development of other activities to differentiate his business, becoming to all intents and purposes an expert in distribution in the Italian market.
After closing the Gabrielle company in 2012, being partially absorbed into the Demix Group, he currently supports his son Fabio in his professional consulting activity: Demix International Consulting, a company specialized in business internationalization, strategic and international marketing, import & export, development and management of international projects, with a particular focus on aggregations and joint ventures between SMEs, the creation of operational, productive activities, as well as commercial networks abroad, the search for public and private funding to facilitate the implementation of projects and business coaching, also addressed to new activities (start up), as well as to companies in the process of relaunching (restart). His knowledge of the Italian market and his experience in entrepreneurship and management have contributed to the growth of both the skills and the business of his son.