The Archive occupies an area of 1,300 square metres, with a space dedicated exclusively to storage and an area for research and consultation that houses all the company's documents and is largely split among two main themes: product and communication.
Among the most interesting product items, historic knitwear is surely worth mentioning. The knitwear archive (housed in Ponzano) is organized by product categories and consists of 12,000 items. The archive includes other materials also, such as samples of fabric, sketches, weaving patterns from the 70s to date, a collection of knitting stitches, old fashion magazines, technical charts, colour palettes of the 70s and 80s, a yarn archive and colour and yarn references currently in use.
Communication materials include a wide collection of fashion editorials, catalogues, advertising campaigns, commercials, billboards, window display material, periodicals and photographic material from the mid-60s to the present. The Archive also preserves real-estate design plans (stores, plants, headquarters), and all the accounting and administrative documentation.
This area also houses some historic machinery (including the first dyeing vats, weaving machines and shoe making machines,) that bear witness to Benetton’s steady technological evolution.
In addition to the Benetton Archive space, a display area of 2,000 square metres houses a selection of advertising campaigns tracing the history of the company's communication from the 60s to the present as well as 16 Formula One racing cars attesting to Benetton Group’s 19-year participation – from 1983 to 2001 - in the world’s highest-class racing championship.