Macron

Macro is the opposite of micron, and that wordplay gave its name to one of European sport's great growth stories. Macron was born in Bologna in 1971 as a shop and distributor of American baseball equipment, turned manufacturer in the 1980s, producing for outside brands like Champion, and only launched its own label in the 1990s. The decisive moment came in 2001, with the brand's first ever professional technical sponsorship contract: Bologna FC 1909, the club of its own city, a partnership that lasts to this day and that few brands in the world can match for loyalty. From there it was constant expansion, from football to rugby, where it dresses the Scotland national team and clubs like the Glasgow Warriors, to basketball and padel, now headquartered in a 22,000 square metre campus in Crespellano. But Macron never abandoned the base of the business: among the big international contracts, it still dresses neighbourhood clubs like Porto Fuori, proof that a brand can grow to the world without ever stopping making shirts for the street next door.