Alpinestars

Alpinestars was founded in 1963 by a leather craftsman, Sante Mazzarolo, in Asolo, Italy and named after the English translation of a small Italian mountain flower, the Stella Alpina, which grows high in the Southern Alps around the town.

Alpinestars originally started out making quality hiking and ski boots but shifted its focus to motorcycling after a conversation between Sante and a motocross rider who told Sante that he needed a special boot for off-road riding.

Sante realised this was a growing market and Alpinestars' introduced its first enduro motorcycle boot in 1965.

From the very start Alpinestars introduced design innovations into motorcycle products, their new motocross boots had a steel shin protector and, instead of the more traditional laces of other manufacturers, used a buckle closure system, similar to that used on the Alpinestars ski boots - both innovations at the time but which are considered standard features on today's boots.

The company realised that the best way to develop and advertise new products was to work with riders and so began partnerships with world motocross champions Roger de Coster and Heikki Mikkola.

After winning a number of design and product awards with his Alpinestars motorcycle off road boots, Sante Mazzarolo turned his attention to motorcycle track racing. Once again, Alpinestars introduced new levels of protection and technical advances such as toe sliders attracting the attention of the top racers and in 1978 Kenny Roberts became Alpinestars’ most high-profile Grand Prix World Champion when he took his first title.

The company continued to develop their motor racing products during the 1990's with their high-performance road racing leather suits; Carlos Checa being the first MotoGP rider to race in an Alpinestars leather suit. This decade also saw Alpinestars start their relationship with Formula 1 and Indycar racing with the development of car racing footwear. Alpinestars willingness to listen to the top racers, their enthusiasm for employing their ideas and their inventive approach to development ensured the respect of influential drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Today, Alpinestars continues to follow this successful methodology, listening to their top riders and racers such as: Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo Andrea Dovizioso, Dani Pedrosa, Shakey Byrne, John Hopkins, Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, Sam Sunderland, Toby Price, Joan Barreda, Eli Tomac and Justin Barcia.

In fact, Alpinestars racing services and technical support workshop department allows Alpinestars to offer on-site assistance to these top racers anywhere in the world, resulting in instantaneous feedback and quicker development time, ensuring better products for the consumer.

To exceed the needs of racers and customers around the world, Alpinestars products are developed by an enthusiastic international staff with motorcycling and auto racing backgrounds at the company’s laboratories in Italy and Los Angeles utilising the latest technology. An in-house laboratory tests product and material resistance and behaviour under various conditions before further testing on the racetrack and road for safety, performance and comfort.