The death of Mario Colombo marks the end of an era for one of Italy’s most enduring sportswear dynasties. As president of Manifattura Mario Colombo, he shaped the Colmar brand across five decades and set the conditions for a fourth-generation transition.
Mario Colombo, President of Manifattura Mario Colombo – the Monza-based company behind the Colmar brand – has died at the age of 71. His passing removes one of Italian sportswear’s most enduring figures: a businessman whose five-decade tenure steered a family-owned manufacturer from a regional ski specialist into a brand recognized across international alpine competition and lifestyle markets.
A century-old dynasty reaches its third and fourth chapters
Manifattura Mario Colombo was established in Monza in 1923 by Colombo’s grandfather – who also bore the name Mario Colombo – initially producing felt hats and gaiters. The company’s pivot toward technical ski apparel positioned it as a long-running partner of Italy’s alpine programme. In the 1950s, Colmar dressed the national squad at the Oslo Winter Olympics, and during the celebrated “valanga azzurra” era of the early 1970s it supplied race suits for the Sapporo and Innsbruck Games and the World Championships in St. Moritz. Champions including Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni later raced in Colmar outerwear, extending the brand’s association with elite Italian skiing into the modern era. A lifestyle line, Colmar Originals, subsequently broadened the offer beyond technical competition apparel.
Colombo was the third generation of a family that has remained at the helm across one hundred years of industry change. His son Stefano now represents the fourth generation at the company’s head.
From operational apprentice to industry chief executive
Born in Monza on June 21, 1954, Colombo studied at the Università Cattolica in Milan before entering the family business in 1973, starting in an operational capacity. His career trajectory was not confined to Monza: between 2000 and 2004 he served as Chief Executive Officer of Adidas Italia, gaining a vantage point on global sporting goods operations that few family-brand leaders in his generation could match. He returned to Manifattura Mario Colombo in 2005, assuming the presidency.
Golf, Madonna di Campiglio, and a broadening brand platform
Colombo’s clearest imprint on the brand beyond skiing was his deliberate move into Golf. In 2007 he co-founded the Colmar Golf line and the Coppa Colmar tournament alongside cousins Giulio and Carlo Colombo, channeling a personal passion into a new commercial category. He served as President of the Golf Club Campo Carlo Magno in Madonna di Campiglio from 2011 – a resort to which he was deeply attached and which conferred honorary citizenship on him in 2012.
“Competence, vision and dedication”
In a statement, the company recognized more than half a century of professional engagement. “Over the course of more than 50 years of professional activity,” the statement read, “Mario Colombo played a central role in the development of the company, distinguished by competence, vision and dedication.” The company also paid tribute to his personal qualities: “His smile, his sociability and his capacity to put anyone at ease in any circumstance were defining traits that always set him apart.”
