Fila

Fila was founded in 1911 by the Fila brothers in Biella, a small town in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, near the foothills of the Alps. For its first six decades, the company specialized in luxury knitwear and underwear for the Italian market, using fine fabrics sourced from the region's renowned textile mills. Fila did not enter sportswear until 1973, when it launched a tennis apparel line — a pivot that would define the brand for the next half-century.

The brand's first major breakthrough came through tennis. In the 1970s and 80s, Fila dressed icons like Björn Borg and later Boris Becker, creating the iconic white Björn Borg tennis polo with colourful collar piping that became synonymous with 1970s tennis elegance. Fila expanded into basketball in the 1990s through its endorsement of Grant Hill, whose signature sneakers — the Grant Hill 1, 2, and 3 — became cult classics. The brand was also embraced by hip-hop culture, with the Fila Disruptor and Trailblazer silhouettes seen on artists like Tupac Shakur and Aaliyah, cementing Fila's place in streetwear history.

After changing ownership multiple times and enduring a period of decline in the 2000s, Fila has experienced a retro-driven renaissance. The classic Fila tennis polos, tracksuits, and chunky sneakers — particularly the Disruptor II — have been reclaimed by new generations through nostalgia, k-pop styling, and the broader 1990s fashion revival. Fila operates today as a subsidiary of Fila Holdings Corp. (Korea) and maintains a significant presence in Asian, European, and Latin American markets, balancing its Italian heritage with global streetwear relevance.