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ITALIAN MOTORCYCLE HELMETS
Rome - (Ign) - Its date of birth is probably 1950, when Franco Boeri (www.boeri.com), a well-known orthopaedic doctor from Milan, began to consider the possibility of creating a protective helmet for his younger brother Alessandro, a cycling enthusiast. The idea soon became reality, and the limited mass production of protective helmets for cyclists soon began. It was an immediate, perhaps even unexpected, success and sales grew year by year. The product became increasingly popular with consumers, and the Boeri brothers decided to extend the product range, developing new protective headwear for boxing, skiing, and lastly motorcycles. This is how the motorcycle helmet which we know today started out, a product which sees Italian industries in the sector in the front line on world markets and which has now rightly become one of the best known symbols of Italian industry.
Alongside Boeri, which in a few years became one of the most important brands on a worldwide scale, and which now has two production plants covering a total of 15,000 square metres, there are also other companies investing in the sector. A case in point is Nava (www.navahelmets.com), a company from Verderio, near Milan, which was set up in 1947 for the processing of thermoplastic materials, and which in the early 1970s also began to produce protective helmets. Boeri had begun with leather, while Nava, 20 years later, immediately started production using polycarbonate, a relatively cheap and extremely resistant plastic material. In a few years the Nava research centre was set up, dedicated entirely to the development of new technologies for polycarbonate processing and moulding. The first computerised systems for design and process control were introduced and, in 1975, the company decided to take part in the great adventure of motorcycle racing. The first step in this new marketing strategy was the sponsoring of a motocross team, followed by the move onto grand Prix racing. The great champions of the time, from Agostini to Ferrari and Graziano Rossi (the father of Valentino), wore Nava helmets when racing. This was the consecration of their success and the inspiration for new research and innovation, from the construction of the first wraparound helmets, to the perfection of aeration and rapid closing systems which contributed to the spread of Italian helmets on all the European and world markets.
In the same year another Italian brand in the sector started to have international success: Nolan (www.nolan.it), today one of the world's largest producers in the sector. The production of Nolan helmets began in the early 1970s, from the successful union between a small industry which for some time had been working in the field of car and motorcycle accessories and a prestigious multinational producing hi-tech plastic raw materials. An initial line of motorcycling products was created, characterised by extremely competitive prices and consistent qualitative excellence. And once again, success was just around the corner. Thanks to constant technological and product innovation, today Nolan boasts a commercial network covering over 70 countries in the world, through which it also distributes the brands Grex and X-Lite, created to expand and diversify the product range.
Today Italian helmets are worn by Australian, Swedish and Swiss postmen, as well as by French gendarmes, and policeman from Croatia, Finland, Greece and dozens of other countries all over the world, confirming an enviable quality and reliability, probably difficult to surpass. The industry of Italian helmets (www.ancma.it) today accounts for a turnover of over €160 million per year, with exports at around 70% .
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