Fila

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

Fila, Ltd.

Company type	Private
Industry	Textile
Founded	1911
Headquarters	Seoul, South Korea
Key people	GENE (YOON-SOO) YOON, 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	http://www.fila.com

Fila is South Korea's largest sportswear manufacturing company, founded in 1911 in Italy. Fila is one of the best known South Korean brands and is among the most popular sportwear brands in the world, headed by chairman and CEO Yoon-Soo Yoon. It 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 original Italian ownership 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.

Apparel

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 vintage 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.

Athletes

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

Individuals

• Kim Clijsters
• Björn Borg
• Svetlana Kuznetsova
• Rainer Schüttler
• Akiko Morigami
• Barry Bonds
• Grant Hill
• Paris Hilton
• Jerry Stackhouse
• Lars Burgsmüller
• Tatiana Perebiynis
• Andreas Seppi
• Michael Schumacher
• Thierry Ascione
• Michael Green
• Liza Galvan
• Reinhold Messner
• Janko Tipsarevic
• Alberto Tomba
• Tom Watson
• Mark Philippoussis
• Ryoma Echizen
• Agnes Szávay
• Steve Krulevitz
• Marin Cilic

Singers

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

• Robert Smith
• Hurricane Chris
• Diamond (rapper)
• Boxie
• Nas

Fila in Pop Culture

• A popular Acronym for FILA in Atlanta, Georgia is Forever I Love Atlanta.
• It is also said that FILA stands for Finally I Left Adidas.
• The brand Fila was heavily featured in the 1986 movie Soul Man.
• 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 1980's 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 dramastic 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).

External links

• Fila USA, Inc.
• Fila Italia
• How Do You Fila?
• Mens Fila Clothing Collection From Di-ModaClothing - Di-Moda Clothing - Authorised online retailers of the FILA menswear collection]
• FILA Sneakerpedia
• Fila Online Shop
• http://www.hoovers.com/fila-usa/--ID__47983--/free-co-factsheet.xhtml