Luciano Benetton

Luciano Benetton, president of Benetton sportswear, was featured in the September issue of French Elle, wearing not the moderately priced colors of his own Italian-based company, but the expensive designs of Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier and Jean Charles de Castelbajac. "It creates a little confusion. But I enjoy that game," confesses the man who helps steer the world's largest knitwear operation. In town for a look at the Benetton store that will open Dec.

After 18 years, Benetton has severed ties with Oliviero Toscani, the Italian creative director whose controversial advertisements have featured AIDS patients, mating horses and, most recently, death-row inmates. "Fortunately, nothing lasts forever!" said Toscani in a statement issued by Benetton. "It's good to have the courage to end something that has been fantastic and still have the enthusiasm to take on new projects."

A full moon nuzzles the blond villa where Luciano Benetton houses his company. The rooms are brightly lit, anticipating his return from Rome, an hour's flight to the south. When he finally arrives, close to 8 p.m., Benetton enters a whitewashed room, sits at the head of a vast, dark table and joins his hands on the surface. He seems benignly formal and remote, nodding politely to his press director and a translator, stopping far short of chitchat. It is a chilly scene, perhaps understandably so.

A full moon nuzzles the blond villa where Luciano Benetton houses his company. The rooms are brightly lit, anticipating his return from Rome, an hour's flight to the south. When he finally arrives, close to 8 p.m., Benetton enters a whitewashed room, sits at the head of a vast, dark table and joins his hands on the surface. He seems benignly formal and remote, nodding politely to his press director and a translator, stopping far short of chitchat. It is a chilly scene, perhaps understandably so.

From a small family-owned business in a backwater city, the Italian sportswear firm Benetton Group S.p.A. has become what some in the industry call the McDonald's of fashion. The $1.5-billion giant sells its colorful jackets, knits, shirts, pants and skirts in 5,900 Benetton outlets in 82 countries. The company also has interests in department stores, hotels and real estate as well as in the expected fashion spinoffs such as watches and perfume.

Time was that Benetton stores were popping up seemingly on every street corner in America. People took to calling the Italian chain the McDonald's of the apparel business. In fact, the company in the past has been sharply criticized by some of its licensees for opening stores so close together that it was bad for business.

After 18 years, Benetton has severed ties with Oliviero Toscani, the Italian creative director whose controversial advertisements have featured AIDS patients, mating horses and, most recently, death-row inmates. "Fortunately, nothing lasts forever!" said Toscani in a statement issued by Benetton. "It's good to have the courage to end something that has been fantastic and still have the enthusiasm to take on new projects."

Actress Robin Wright is getting married today--for the second time in recent weeks. Her first on-screen wedding was in "Princess Bride," the feature movie that opened in mid-October. This time she'll walk down the aisle on the daytime soap "Santa Barbara," where she has a continuing role as a madcap heiress.

Why not adapt any appropriate armed forces bases that are being close into facilities for California's homeless? This could solve part of the problems for those homeless who are willing to move from the bright lights of Los Angeles to a more rural community. L.F. IVANHOE Santa Barbara

From a small family-owned business in a backwater city, the Italian sportswear firm Benetton Group S.p.A. has become what some in the industry call the McDonald's of fashion. The $1.5-billion giant sells its colorful jackets, knits, shirts, pants and skirts in 5,900 Benetton outlets in 82 countries. The company also has interests in department stores, hotels and real estate as well as in the expected fashion spinoffs such as watches and perfume.

Why not adapt any appropriate armed forces bases that are being close into facilities for California's homeless? This could solve part of the problems for those homeless who are willing to move from the bright lights of Los Angeles to a more rural community. L.F. IVANHOE Santa Barbara

Luciano Benetton, president of Benetton sportswear, was featured in the September issue of French Elle, wearing not the moderately priced colors of his own Italian-based company, but the expensive designs of Hermes, Jean Paul Gaultier and Jean Charles de Castelbajac. "It creates a little confusion. But I enjoy that game," confesses the man who helps steer the world's largest knitwear operation. In town for a look at the Benetton store that will open Dec.

Time was that Benetton stores were popping up seemingly on every street corner in America. People took to calling the Italian chain the McDonald's of the apparel business. In fact, the company in the past has been sharply criticized by some of its licensees for opening stores so close together that it was bad for business.

Actress Robin Wright is getting married today--for the second time in recent weeks. Her first on-screen wedding was in "Princess Bride," the feature movie that opened in mid-October. This time she'll walk down the aisle on the daytime soap "Santa Barbara," where she has a continuing role as a madcap heiress.

Benetton, the Italian clothing company, whose shock publicity stunts have included images of a dying AIDS victim, launched a new ad campaign Tuesday featuring pictures of its chairman--stark naked. A grinning Luciano Benetton appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world with his genitals covered only by his hands and the caption: "I want my clothes back!"

Controversy From Benetton: Italian clothing magnate Luciano Benetton, brushing aside angry charges of bad taste and exploitation, formally launched his controversial advertisement Thursday showing a dying, Christ-like AIDS victim. Benetton called the ad--slated to appear in magazines internationally--"a system of communication, not a way of selling." Gay rights and advertising groups have accused Benetton of "a despicable exploitation of a tragic situation."