Designer and Retro Trainers at Discount Prices

filaBrand History

Fila was created in Biella by the Fila Brothers in 1911 as a textile company, known for its vibrant and textured clothes. The Fila brothers took their inspiration from Europe, but relied on their own design instinct to produce products both rugged in nature and yet perfect for the leisure industry.

Fila had a taste for the finer things in life. Coupled with their innovative ideas they made their dramatic debut as a select performance brand in 1973.

They introduced cotton rib to the world of tennis and already had players like Bjorn Borg interested in the brand. In fact this is the iconic image of that retro Fila look. To this day the FILA clothing collections feature polo shirts and track jackets with the distinctive ribbed side panels.

However Fila’s appeal was not limited to the arena of tennis. Ingemar Stenmark raised Fila’s brand image by winning the Men’s Giant Slalom during the 1986 Alpine Skiing World Cup at Hemsedal and again at Lake Placid
In the World of Golf, Tom Watson trained for the Master’s title wearing Fila and Reinhold Messner took Fila to new heights (literally) when he climbed Mount Everest.

This exclusivity and these top level sports associations hot Fila to the forefront of contemporary and classic casual clothing.

Fila’s love affair with tennis grew even deeper with a 22-year sponsorship of the U.S. Open. They tailored clothing and footwear for athletes and spectators alike.
Fila apparel was popular in the 1980’s rap scene. The brand was mentioned in several songs such as “Do the Fila” by Steady B and “Put your Fila’s on” by Schoolly D. There was also an entire hip hop group called Fila Fresh Crew.

Fila’s footwear complimented athlete’s movements, and where competitors sought to make the training shoe flamboyant and over-complicated, Fila’s lightweight designs allowed the athlete’s actions to speak for themselves.

Alberto Tomba (Slalom), Monica Seles (Tennis), Antonio Rossi (Rowing) and Kim Clijsters (Tennis) are just a few of the famous athletes to don Fila apparel.
According to industry observers, Fila had become an "aspirational brand," a label that represented the dreams of inner-city kids whose reality was far removed from the tennis courts and golf courses where the brand had earned its early fame. Like many other of the decade's biggest marketers, Fila embraced its accidental positioning and the tough, gritty image that came with it.

When the Fila Grant Hill came out in 1995, Fila skyrocketed in popularity to the number three spot behind Nike and Reebok. A direct competitor with the Air Jordans for a fraction of the price.

Tennis, ski, and swimwear had once been Fila's mainstays with footwear being somewhat of an afterthought, but by 1995 athletic shoes contributed to more than 60% of revenues. The brand leapfrogged its second-tier competitors, growing from an eighth place ranking among the world's athletic shoe makers to number three by 1996. Having established itself in the number three spot in the key footwear segment, Fila focused on parlaying its shoe success into continued growth by refocusing on apparel and accessories, diversifying into new sports, targeting women, emphasizing technology, and pursuing geographic expansion.

Fila developed clothing for skiers, snowboarders, skateboarders, and baseball players, and concentrated on building its presence in specialized footwear for basketball, cross-training, running, hiking, volleyball, soccer, and tennis. It also established a joint venture with Italian eyewear manufacturer De Rigo S.p.A. to produce a branded line of sunglasses. Fila even created a skin care line including sun lotions and bath products.

In the late 1990’s things weren’t so good for Fila. Problems initially in the U.S with low sales meant the company’s profitability fell dramatically.
Fila was once prominent in the urban market, but began floundering with fashions shifting to boots and other outdoor looks that Fila simply didn’t cater for.

Fila had to take action.

Restructuring efforts began late in 1997, including workforce reductions, warehouse closures, a reduction in the number of male athletes with Fila endorsement contracts, the closure of all ten U.S. retail outlets, and the elimination of underperforming product lines.

Jon Epstein (former national sales manager at Adidas) took over as the head of the main U.S. subsidiary – Fila U.S.A. Inc. And in 1998 Michele Scannavini (former sales and marketing director for Ferrari S.p.A) took place as CEO of Fila Holding.
Fila embarked on several cost-cutting initiatives, and re-evaluation of their company’s strategies. They once again sponsored the U.S Open and other tennis tournaments and in late 1999 signed Jennifer Capriati to a multi-year endorsement deal. Despite Capriati’s dramatic comeback aged 23 at several tournaments in 1999, Fila recorded another loss in profits.

2000 and 2001 recorded equally bad losses for the company, and the global economic effect of September 11 caused even more financial turmoil.
Fila realised the U.K market was one of the company’s strongest and in July 2000, they acquired a 40% stake in the subsidiary Fila U.K. Ltd. They launched a five-year plan to expand retail operations including the opening of 40 retail outlets in Europe, the opening of two flagships located in Milan and London, all the time reducing their retail presence in the U.S. market.

In 2001, for the first time in more than 2 decades Fila announced a partnership with Italian design company ‘Pininfarina Group’ to develop a new performance running shoe. Pininfarina was most famous for designing the stylish and technically innovative Ferrari automobile.

Fila later partnered with Ferrari in June 2001 to supply the Ferrari Marlboro Formula 1 racing team with apparel and footwear, and Fila also agreed to develop a range of Ferrari shoes. 2006 saw the re-invention of fashion-inspired apparel and footwear in golf with the Fila Biella collection.

In April 2007, Fila became part of GLBH, Global Leading Brands House, a global fashion group which creates and develops high-end fashion brands, and later that year signed Agnes Szavay, rising star in the world of tennis.

Fila added the Stella Artois Championships, to its existing tennis event sponsorships of the Sony Ericsson Open, Pacific Life Open, Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships and Italian Open. Fila’s new licensing agreement with The Championships at Wimbledon, brings Fila back to the grand stage where Bjorn Borg first put Fila on the map in the world of sport. Fila forged partnerships with J Records music label Polo Grounds Music to make sure Fila fashion appears on the hottest new artists in the music industry.

After nearly a century Fila has come full circle, now providing the best in luxury, performance apparel and footwear. Trainerstation is proud to be an official Fila distributor and to be able to bring you the very best of Fila’s retro vintage collections. These collections are generally small and compact, but every piece comes loaded with heritage. Fila deserves huge credit for keeping close to it’s roots and we are pleased to see this great old brand making strides to regaining much of it former glory.