Fila (company)

Fila, Inc.
Private
Industry
Founded Biella, Italy (1911)
Headquarters Seoul, South Korea
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Yoon-Soo Yoon, Chairman & CEO, Global Leading Brands House Holdings & Fila Korea Ltd.
  • Young-Chan Cho, President of Global Leading Brands House Holdings, CFO of Fila U.S.A., Inc.
  • Jon Epstein, President of Fila U.S.A., Inc.[1]
  • Lee Dong Shik, Director of Fila Sport
Products
Parent Fila Korea
Website www.fila.com

Fila was founded in 1911 in Italy, and is one of the world's largest sportswear manufacturing companies.

Since a takeover in 2007 by Fila Korea, Fila is now owned and operates from South Korea. Headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon, Fila has offices in 11 countries worldwide.

History

Fila was created in Biella, Piedmont, by the Fila brothers in 1909. It originally started by making clothing for the people of the Italian Alps, now manufacturing sportswear for men, women, kids and athletes.

The company's primary product was originally underwear, before moving into sportswear in the 1970s, initially with the endorsement of tennis player Björn Borg. The brand got more popular after moving into sportswear.

The original Italian ownership shop Holding di Partecipazioni sold the company to US hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management in 2003, after the company over-committed itself to expensive athletic endorsements, at a time when margins were under pressure. Cerberus owned Fila through holding company Sports Brands International, which owned and operated all Fila businesses around the world with the exception of Fila Korea, which was a separate company operating the brand under licence.

In January 2007, the global Fila brand and all its international subsidiaries were acquired by Fila Korea from SBI, which made it the largest South Korean sportswear company. Fila Korea currently holds all of the rights to the worldwide use of footwear and clothing brands of the parent firm.

In 2009, ANTA Sports acquired the rights to use the brand in China (the company "Full Prospect"), from Belle International, Fila Korea still owned 15% shares of the joint venture company "Full Prospect".[2]

On May 2011, Fila Korea Ltd. acquired global golf equipment maker Acushnet Company, becoming the new owner of leading golf brands such as Titleist for $1.23 billion.[3][4]

Clothing

A Fila store.

Men

The men's Fila line of sportswear includes clothing for such sports as tennis, running, cross training, basketball, golf, swimming, and Fila's own line of clothing.

Women

The women's Fila line of sportswear includes clothing for such sports as tennis, running, cross training, golf, swimming, and Fila's own line of vintage clothing.

Kids

Fila has everyday footwear for children of all ages, from infants to youth.

Branding

The corporate logo of Fila features the company name using snakelike letters.[5]

Past and present sponsorships

These include:

Spokesperson

Fila in pop culture

See also

Excludes articles found in Category:Sporting goods manufacturers of Italy.

References

  1. "Executive Bios at Fila.com". Fila.com. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
  2. "DISCLOSEABLE TRANSACTIONS PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF FULL PROSPECT LIMITED AND FILA MARKETING (HONG KONG) LIMITED" (PDF). ANTA (Hong Kong Stock Exchange). 12 August 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2011.
  3. "Fila Korea buys Titleist for global expansion". Yonhap News. 2011-05-21. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  4. Thomas, Denny; Robert MacMillan (2011-05-20). "Fila Korea buys Titleist golf company for $1.2 billion". Reuter. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  5. "Fila Logo: Design, History and Evolution". FamousLogos.net. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  6. "ตะกร้อไทยทีมเดี่ยว"ชาย-หญิง"คว้าแชมป์"คิงส์คัพ"". TPBS. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  7. "Fila ropes in Sehwag as brand ambassador, to hike prices". The Times Of India. 3 July 2012.
  8. "Nas To Open Sneaker Store In Las Vegas". The Source.
  9. Ho, Stewart (9 September 2012). "Jung Il Woo Braves the Outdoors for Fila Sport". enewsWorld. CJ E&M. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  10. "Infinite, the New Faces of Fila Korea". Dramafever. 2 January 2013.
  11. "B1A4 chosen as the new faces of 'FILA'". Allkpop. 2 December 2014.
  12. "Kim Soo-hyun laid-back, suave in Fila commercial". Kpopherald. 5 March 2015.
  13. Fila Logo (Super Final Match Tennis) at GameFAQs
  14. Benjamin, Brad (2007-03-07). "Sounds of Science". Paul's Boutique Samples and References List. Retrieved 2008-03-14.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fila (company).