Alpinestars

Sante Mazzarolo founded Alpinestars in 1963 in Asolo, a town in the Veneto region of northern Italy. The company began by manufacturing hiking and ski boots before quickly pivoting to motorcycle boots for motocross racing, then expanding into road racing footwear. The name Alpinestars derives from the English translation of Stella Alpina, the Italian name for the Edelweiss flower, which grows at altitude in the mountains surrounding the company's founding location.

Since 1993 the company has been led by Gabriele Mazzarolo, Sante's son. Alpinestars maintains offices in Los Angeles and Bangkok, while its original headquarters and principal research and development facility remain in northern Italy. The company also operates fashion design centres in Italy and California, offering a broader clothing range for men, women, and children beyond purely technical sportswear.

Through the 1990s Alpinestars broadened its product line beyond boots to encompass the full spectrum of technical motorcycling protection: gloves, jackets, and full leather race suits. The company has since become the equipment partner of choice for an extensive roster of world champions. MotoGP World Champions Marc Marquez, Casey Stoner, and Jorge Lorenzo have all competed in Alpinestars leather suits. World Superbike Champions Ben Spies and Troy Corser likewise wore Alpinestars gear, as did early motocross stars Roger DeCoster and Kenny Roberts. In the motocross discipline, AMA and World Motocross champions Marvin Musquin, Tyla Rattray, David Philippaerts, Christophe Pourcel, and Ryan Villopoto have all used Alpinestars equipment. Nicky Hayden and Mick Doohan are among further world champions the company has sponsored.

For four-wheeled motorsport, Alpinestars produces flame and heat-retardant Nomex fire suits, footwear, gloves, and underwear homologated for Formula One and NASCAR. Recent world champions who have competed in Alpinestars race suits include Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso, and Jimmie Johnson. The company also supplied the race suit, shoes, and gloves worn by the Stig on the television programme Top Gear.

In 2011 Alpinestars introduced the Tech Air Race System, an electronic airbag safety system integrating a data logging unit and a dual-charge inflation module. The system was adopted in MotoGP and the World Superbike Championship. Its effectiveness was demonstrated in June 2013 when Marc Marquez crashed at approximately 337 km/h while wearing the airbag suit and escaped serious injury.

Alpinestars has consistently performed strongly in independent MotoCAP safety assessments. The Halo Drystar became the world's first textile jacket to achieve a four-star MotoCAP rating. The company's GP Plus R V2 gloves were singled out by Bennetts UK for their outstanding MotoCAP performance, and Alpinestars produced the world's first gloves to attain a five-star MotoCAP rating. At the time of the most recent assessments, more Alpinestars gloves held five-star MotoCAP ratings than those of any other manufacturer. The company was also the first Italian manufacturer to produce motorcycle gloves meeting CE Level 2, the highest standard set by the European Committee for Standardization.

Alpinestars manufactured mountain bikes until 1996. In 2023 the company launched the Supertech R10, its first full-face road helmet for motorcycling.