Alberto Perolari

I completed all my studies in Bergamo (Liceo Scientifico and University, Economics and Business), graduating in 1989 with a thesis on Just in Time and Japanese production systems, having always been interested in Asian cultures since practising judo (2nd dan black belt), karate and kung fu.
During my university studies I taught judo to children, worked as a waiter in a pizzeria and spent my summers working in the production departments of Perofil, the family company specialised in men’s underwear.
In the company I initially worked alongside the production manager and then the sales manager, later becoming assistant to the CEO and managing the handover with my father in 2001.
I transformed it by shifting the focus from production processes to the market and the consumer, relocating production to Eastern Europe and North Africa and, to make it grow in international markets, I signed licences with Zegna (2006) and Bikkembergs (2014), while in 2013 I acquired a women’s lingerie brand, silk only, for the upper end of the women’s underwear market, opening the company up to new markets.
I doubled turnover and moved the sales mix from 95% Italy and 5% Europe to 60% Italy and 40% rest of the world by changing the product mix and price positioning as well as the brand image.
Since joining Perofil I have been active in Confindustria Bergamo (becoming Vice President of the Young Entrepreneurs Group from 1991 to 1996 and then a Member of the Executive Committee) as well as in Sistema Moda Italia (member of the Executive Committee since 2008).
In 2017 Perofil’s minority shareholder asked to be bought out: unable to find a women’s underwear company to merge with, I decided to sell to a listed group based in Mantua.
I have managed my family’s real estate investments as well as a project (BikeLand) focused on the world of cycling. I have taken up cycling, at amateur level of course, and its granfondo races.
Since 1999 I have been a member of Rotary Bergamo and head of the Youth Actions Committee, which handles annual exchanges abroad, as well as being in charge of the homework club of the Pignolo parish oratory, which provides after-school support for primary school children, mostly children of non-EU immigrants.
Since 2021 I have been a member of the Board of Santini Cycling Wear and its Corporate Social Responsibility Officer.

I have always loved travelling and discovering different places and cultures, as well as reading and downhill and cross-country skiing.