Fila (; ) is a South Korean-owned

athleisure Athleisure is a hybrid style of athletic clothing typically worn as everyday wear. The word is a portmanteau combining the words 'athletic' and 'leisure'. Athleisure outfits can include tracksuits, sports jackets, hoodies, yoga pants, tight ...

brand headquartered in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. The company was originally founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in

Coggiola Coggiola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Biella in the Italian region Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Biella. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,285 and an area of .All demographic ...

, near

Biella Biella (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the northern Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the Province of Biella, province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Fila Korea acquired the brand in 2007 and launched its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) on the

Korea Exchange Korea Exchange (KRX, ) is the sole securities exchange operator in South Korea. It is headquartered in Busan, and has an office for cash markets and market oversight in Seoul. History The Korea Exchange was created through the integration of K ...

in September 2010. Fila Holdings owns golf equipment maker

Acushnet Company The Acushnet Company is an American company focused on the golf market. The company operates a series of brands that manufacture golf equipment, clothing and accessories. The principal brands operated by Acushnet are Titleist, best known for b ...

. Fila Holdings' largest shareholders include Piemonte Co., Ltd at around 20%, Fila Holdings at 20%, and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

National Pension Service The National Pension Service (NPS; ) is a public pension fund in South Korea. It is the third largest in the world with over $800 billion in assets, and is the largest investor in South Korea. The system functions as part of a national social se ...

at around 13%.

Gene Yoon Yoon Yoon-su, commonly known in English as Gene Yoon (; Hwaseong, 9 September 1945) is a South Korean businessman and investor. He is the current chairman of the sportswear company Fila. Biography Yoon graduated from Seoul High School in 196 ...

(Yoon Yoon-su), who owns a 75% stake in Piemonte, serves as the chairman of Fila Holdings. The

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Yoon Keun-chang.

History

In 1906, brothers Ettore and Giansevero Fila joined the Giuseppe Regis and Figli di Coggiola wool mill in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

, Italy. In 1911, the Regis brothers withdrew from the company and the wool mill took the name Fratelli Fila S.p.A. Fila was officially established in 1923. It originally made clothing for the people of the

Italian Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

, primarily

underwear Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

. In the 1970s it moved into

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is athletic clothing, including footwear, worn for sports activity or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical spor ...

, with an endorsement deal with tennis player

Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg (; born 6 June 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 109 weeks. Borg won 66 singles titles during his caree ...

, and the brand became more popular after the transition. In 1988, Fila changed ownership from Italian chemical company

SNIA S.p.A. Snia, stylized as SNIA, (later SNIA Viscosa and finally SNIA BDG Srl) was an Italian language, Italian firm located in Milan that manufactured defence products, textiles, chemicals, perfumes, and corrugated paper among other products. History Th ...

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

-controlled

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...

Gemina, later restructured as Holding di Partecipazioni. In 1991, Fila shifted focus from clothing in Europe to footwear in the US, and completed a buyout of its US license. High-profile sponsorships, including basketball players

Grant Hill Grant Henry Hill (born October 5, 1972) is an American professional basketball executive and former player who is a co-owner of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a part-owner of Orlando City SC of Major League ...

and

Jerry Stackhouse Jerry Darnell Stackhouse (born November 5, 1974) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. Stackhouse played college basketball f ...

, helped make Fila America's fastest-growing footwear brand by 1995. In 2003, Holding di Partecipazioni sold the company to

Cerberus Capital Management Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. is an American global alternative investment firm with assets across credit, private equity, and real estate strategies.Leaders Magazine"Providing Economic Opportunity: An Interview with The Honorable Dan Qua ...

, a US-based hedge fund, 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 license. In January 2007, the brand and all its international subsidiaries were acquired by Fila Korea. Fila inline skates

In 2009,

Anta Sports Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang, Fujian, Jinjiang, China. It is the world's third-largest sportswear company by revenue, behind Nike, Inc., Nike and Adidas ahead of L ...

acquired the rights to the brand in China, Hong Kong, and Macao from then Fila company's Chinese joint venture partner

Belle International Belle International Holdings Limited is a women's shoe retailer in China, with 22% of the domestic market share. It is engaged in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail sales of footwear products. As of its IPO in May 2007, the company had ...

. Fila Korea still owned 15% shares of the joint venture company "Full Prospect". In September 2010, Fila Korea Ltd. launched its

on the

. In May 2011, it acquired global golf equipment maker

, becoming the new owner of golf brands such as

Titleist Titleist (pronounced "title-ist") is an American brand of golf equipment produced by the Acushnet Company, headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1932 by Philip E. Young, it focuses on golf balls, such as commo ...

and

FootJoy The Acushnet Company is an American company focused on the golf market. The company operates a series of brands that manufacture golf equipment, clothing and accessories. The principal brands operated by Acushnet are Titleist, best known for b ...

, for $1.23 billion.

Sourcing concerns

In March 2021, Fila China stated that it would continue to source cotton from

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

despite public criticism that such cotton had been produced with forced Uyghur labor in the region.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, Tennis, South Korea, Company Italian companies established in 1911 1980s fashion 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion 2020s fashion Athletic shoe brands Clothing companies established in 1911 Shoe companies of South Korea Sportswear brands 2007 mergers and acquisitions Clothing brands of South Korea Companies listed on the Korea Exchange Companies in the KOSPI 200 Sporting goods manufacturers of South Korea