ÿþFila fought the balenciaga speed trainer perception that it was a " fashionable but low-tech " brand by establishing a research and development center in Portland, Oregon, and staffing it with engineers hired away from Nike. Fila ' s 1996 annual report stressed the strategic shift, asserting, " Style is our heritage. Creativity is our strength. Technology is our future. " The company also established new research and design centers in the key geographic markets of Italy and Korea. Efforts at geographic diversification were so successful that by 1995, Korea had grown to become Fila ' s second largest market, behind the United States but exceeding Italy. In acknowledgment of the fact that the United States had become its largest and most important market, Fila moved its global operations center to its U.S. headquarters mid-decade.
The new leaders launched a number of cost-cutting initiatives. In the United States, for example, Fila exited from the distribution business and hired an outside company to distribute its footwear and apparel to retailers; it also replaced its internal sales force with several independent sales agencies. On the product side, there was an important shift back to the company ' s roots in tennis, balenciaga triple s skiing, and golf. Fila once again became a sponsor of the U.S. Open and other tennis tournaments and in late 1999 signed Jennifer Capriati to a multiyear endorsement deal. A former teen phenom, Capriati had made a dramatic comeback at age 23 during a series of 1999 tournaments. Revenues fell another 13 percent in 1999, and Fila Holding posted another net loss, although the loss balenciaga shoes was much smaller than the preceding year.
Italian investment firm Gemina S.p.A. owned a majority interest in Fila in 1996, but that ownership structure appeared subject to change in 1997. Ongoing negotiations between Italian apparel giant Marzotto S.p.A. and Gemina could portend a merger or acquisition among the businesses. Fila was established in 1923 by eponymous brothers to manufacture knitwear, specifically underwear. The company operated in this field for nearly a half-century, enduring the Great Depression , political upheavals, and high inflation throughout the ensuing decades. It was not until the 1970s and the arrival of managing director Enrico Frachey that the company began to take its present shape.
FILA ' s lifestyle is what we will be focused on in the coming years, to take FILA to the next balenciaga sneakers level. The diversification also re-emphasized high-end sportswear and casual footwear with a particular focus on the long-neglected women ' s market. In 1995, Fila bought market share and expertise in women ' s and children ' s clothing via the acquisition of French sportswear manufacturer Dorotennis SA. The parent company hoped to expand this new subsidiary from its European base into America and Asia. New endorsement contracts with top-ranked female athletes, including tennis player Gabriela Sabatini and skier Deborah Compagnoni, supported the drive for the female consumer. Fila fought the perception that it was a " fashionable but low tech " brand by establishing a research and development center in Portland, Oregon, and staffing it with engineers hired away from Nike.
If completed, the deal stood to form a multibillion-dollar amalgamation of upscale clothing and footwear brands. Konstantin Grcic: The essence of a table. We wanted to make something simple even simpler. A rectangular format, the legs right in the corners rather than towards the center of the piece. That kind of table already exists of course. But I was certain we would be able to do something very distinctive with this approach. Our "Fila" table is made entirely of aluminum. And the connections are also important. We are creating building blocks that can be used to construct various table formats of any desired length. The cross beams and legs are extrusion profiles that are invisibly screwed into the connecting elements. Our corner connectors are milled from solid aluminum in contrast to how this is generally done.
It is a system that holds great potential, be this in the outdoor segment or as a piece of office furniture. ÿþFlipboard Menu Business Fashion Focus Sourcing Journal Shop balenciaga speed runner Subscribe Magazine Newsletters Newsletters Focus Athletic & Outdoor Apr 22, 2019 2:05PM PT Remembering Fila's Jon Epstein: An Oral History of the Late Executive By Peter Verry , Neil Weilheimer Facebook Twitter Tumblr Pin It Reddit Show more sharing options LinkedIn WhatsApp Email Print Jon Epstein CREDIT: Fila On March 29, roughly 400 people filed into the Onyx Room at the Park Hyatt Hotel in New York City to relive some of the most memorable moments in the storied career of Jon Epstein , the Fila president who died in February a week after having heart surgery in St. Louis.