Why it belongs in ORBIS
Sportswear label built around former French rugby international Serge Blanco and launched with entrepreneur Jean-Jacques Lauby after Blanco's 1992 retirement; first stores opened in 1994, including a boutique in Blanco's home region of Biarritz.
The Serge Blanco brand grew out of the playing career of Serge Blanco, born in Caracas in 1958 to a Basque mother and Venezuelan father, who played for Biarritz Olympique and is widely regarded among the greatest players in French rugby history. At the end of the 1991-92 season, as Blanco announced his retirement, entrepreneur Jean-Jacques Lauby approached him with an idea for a clothing line, and the two sealed an agreement with a handshake. The label began with heavyweight rugby polo shirts made in French weaving, assembly and embroidery workshops, expanding into a full menswear wardrobe with accessories, shoes, luggage and leather goods. The first Serge Blanco stores opened in 1994.