Fila (company)

This article refers to the clothing corporation, for other uses see FILA.

Fila, Ltd.

Type	Private
Industry	Sports equipment
Founded	1911, Biella, Italy
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Key people	Gene Yoon (Yoon-Soo), Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Global Leading Brands House Holdings & Fila Korea Ltd Young-Chan Cho, President of Global Leading Brands House Holdings, Chief Financial Officer of Fila U.S.A., Inc. Jon Epstein, President of Fila U.S.A., Inc.
Products	Athletic shoes, apparel, accessories
Website	www.fila.com

Fila is one of the world's largest sportswear manufacturing companies. Founded in 1911 in Italy, Fila has been owned and operated from South Korea since a takeover in 2007. Headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon, Fila now has offices in 11 countries worldwide.

History

Fila was created in Biella, Piedmont, by the Fila brothers in 1911. 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 apparel 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".

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

Apparel

A Fila store.

Men

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

Women

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

Kids

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

Branding

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

Sponsorships

Athletes and famous that have used, or are currently using, Fila apparel include:

Alpine skiing

• Alberto Tomba

Basketball

• Michael Green
• Grant Hill
• Jerry Stackhouse

Baseball

• Barry Bonds

Football

• Blackpool
• Notts County
• AFC Bournemouth
• St. Mirren F.C.
• Atlético Balboa
• Deportivo Quito
• Manila Nomads F.C.

Golf

• Hee-Won Han
• Stacy Lewis

Mountaineering

• Reinhold Messner

Tennis

• Eduardo Schwank
• Horacio Zeballos
• Jelena Dokić
• Matthew Ebden
• Kim Clijsters
• Rainer Schüttler
• Ágnes Szávay
• Andreas Seppi

• Mikhail Kukushkin
• Marina Erakovic
• Irina-Camelia Begu
• Monica Niculescu
• Svetlana Kuznetsova
• Vera Zvonareva
• Nadia Petrova
• Dmitry Tursunov

• Igor Kunitsyn
• Anna Chakvetadze
• Vera Dushevina
• Polona Hercog
• Janko Tipsarević
• Jelena Janković
• James Blake
• Vania King

Former notable players

• Guillermo Vilas
• Boris Becker
• Björn Borg
• Jennifer Capriati
• - Monica Seles

Track and field

• Liza Hunter-Galvan

Volleyball

• Daejeon Samsung Fire Bluefangs
• Incheon Korean Air Jumbos
• Incheon Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders

Other sponsorships

• Son Yeon-Jae
• Ryoma Echizen (fictional anime character)
• Paris Hilton
• Australian Cricket Team
• Conference National - Ball Supplier

Singers

Singers that have used, or are currently using, Fila apparel include:

• Robert Smith
• Hurricane Chris
• Diamond
• Boxie
• Nas
• Big Bang (Korean Pop Group)

Fila in pop culture

• The brand Fila was heavily featured in the 1986 movie Soul Man.
• The brand Fila was heavily featured throughout the entire run of HBO crime series "The Sopranos."
• The Fila Store is one of the drop off points in the video game Crazy Taxi.
• Fila Decathlon was the title of a game for Game Boy Advance Developed by THQ.
• Toji Suzahara from Neon Genesis Evangelion wears a track jacket with the word FILA stitched on the front.
• Fila apparel was also very popular in the 1980s rap scene (today often called Old school hip hop). Examples are the song "Do the Fila" by Steady B, "Put your Fila's on" by Schoolly D or even a whole group labeled Fila Fresh Crew. Also the cover of Just-Ice's first album makes use of Fila signs.
• On the other hand, in their 1989 song "The Sounds of Science", the Beastie Boys exhorted listeners to "Rock my Adidas; never rock Fila."
• However, in a dramatic reversal five years later, Mike D tried to mount a Fila revival, only to encounter considerable resistance: "Step into the party with the Fila fresh gear, people looking at me like I was David Koresh here" ("The Scoop", Ill Communication, 1994).
• In (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) by the same, Mike D wears a FILA t-shirt throughout
• The main character of Prince of Tennis, Echizen Ryoma wears Fila sportswear for everyday use. His Fila cap and shoes are his trademark.

External links

• Fila USA
• Fila Europe
• Fila Korea
• Fila Japan
• Fila Taiwan
• Fila Latin
• Fila Brazil
• Fila India
• Fila Golf