Rosso was born in the village of Brugine in the Northeastern Italian region of Veneto. His parents were farmers and he grew up under simple conditions, regularly helping his father after school. Having seen the laborious life required for a farmer, Rosso aspired to do something different from his parents and in 1970 began studying industrial Textile Manufacturing at the Marconi Technical Institute in Padua. There, he produced, at the age of 15, his first self-designed garment, a pair of low-waist bell-bottomed jeans using his mother's Singer sewing machine. He kept experimenting with different jeans models and would give each pair to friends or sell them at school for about 3500 lire (equivalent of 1,80 Euro in current prices). In 1973 he began studying Economics at the University of Venice, where in addition to helping his father on the farm, he also financed his studies by working as a mechanic and as a carpenter.
Rosso dropped out of the University of Venice in 1975 and began to work as a Production Manager at Moltex, a local clothing manufacturer that produced trousers for various Italian clothing labels. Moltex' parent company, the Genius Group, was run by Adriano Goldschmied who would eventually become Rosso's mentor and future business partner. During Rosso's first two years at Moltex the company grew rapidly. In 1978, after Rosso had managed to increase the company's production beyond what Goldschmied actually considered possible, Rosso wanted to leave the company in order to start a new business on his own. However, Goldschmied convinced Rosso to stay by offering him a 40% stake in Moltex and by agreeing to form a new company together, thus forming Diesel. Following the new partnership, Rosso also became shareholder of the Genius Group, which gathered brands such as Replay, King Jeans and Vivai, among others.
Rosso dropped out of the University of Venice in 1975 and began to work as a Production Manager at Moltex, a local clothing manufacturer that produced trousers for various Italian clothing labels. Moltex' parent company, the Genius Group, was run by Adriano Goldschmied who would eventually become Rosso's mentor and future business partner. During Rosso's first two years at Moltex the company grew rapidly. In 1978, after Rosso had managed to increase the company's production beyond what Goldschmied actually considered possible, Rosso wanted to leave the company in order to start a new business on his own. However, Goldschmied convinced Rosso to stay by offering him a 40% stake in Moltex and by agreeing to form a new company together, thus forming Diesel. Following the new partnership, Rosso also became shareholder of the Genius Group, which gathered brands such as Replay, King Jeans and Vivai, among others.