Fila is leaning into its heritage for a new fall collection and advertising campaign.
The venerable Italian brand will launch a more-premium collection, Casa Fila, accompanied by a Bellissimo campaign that is focused on the brand’s longtime expertise of bridging performance technology with modern style.
“Fila has an incredibly rich 113-year history in sport, and a key factor in that has been the brand’s uncompromising focus on creating products and experiences for consumers that optimize performance and style,” said Todd Klein, global brand president of Fila. “We are now getting back to our DNA by sharpening our focus on what has made Fila so iconic through the years — timeless design, devotion to craft, and most importantly, products that make you play better. With the growing popularity of tennis, pickleball and golf, as well as the increasing appeal of running to new audiences, now is the ideal time for Fila to refresh its brand and product offerings.”
Klein, who has been with Fila for 18 months, said the company has been going through a transition to better respond to consumer demands. It hired consultants to survey American consumers about the brand and overwhelmingly, he said, they were unaware that Fila was an Italian brand — a country of origin they associated with high quality, updated styling and attention to detail.
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So the decision was made to focus on those attributes in Fila’s ongoing messaging.
For the fall campaign, the company has reimagined the traditional country club scene as the “Bellissimo Country Club” — a place where everyone is included.
“A clear celebration of our Italian heritage, ‘Bellissimo’ is Fila’s toast to living life to the fullest, in sport and in play,” said Emily Maxey, senior vice president of marketing for Fila. “Fila is at its best when we embrace the intersection of high performance and high style, and we wanted to highlight that in all aspects of this campaign. From the setting to the product to the interplay of sport and life, ‘Bellissimo’ is an invitation to experience the fullest and most aspirational expression of Fila.”
The campaign is focused on the brand’s new Casa Fila collection, an elevated assortment that reworked Fila classics such as the BB1 Polo, now offered in performance materials, and the FX-2 tennis sneaker. “These products were a real inspiration to the team for Casa Fila,” Klein said.
The collection, for men and women, includes apparel and footwear ranging in price from $64 to $140. It will also be front and center at the U.S. Open next month when Emma Navarro, a top-ranked U.S. pro, and other athletes, will wear the collection at the tournament. It will also be featured in a pop-up that will open in August and remain through October in SoHo, Klein said. The Casa Fila collection — as well as a Hailey Bieber collection that will launch in August — will also be sold at Fila’s shop at the U.S. Open. Bieber has been an ambassador for the company since September 2023.
Klein said this focus on its Italian heritage is also being emphasized with the company’s wholesale partners. They include Nordstrom, Tennis-Warehouse, Academy Sports, Extra Butter and Wish, several of which are new accounts. “We’re making inroads and we feel we have positive momentum for the back half of the year,” he said. “There’s a lot of optimism within our organization despite the challenging times we’re experienced since COVID[-19].”
Fila has been owned by a South Korean company, Fila Korea, since 2007, and it has been public on the country’s stock exchange since 2010. The corporation, now called Fila Holdings Corp., also owns Acushnet Holdings Corp., which includes golf brands such as Titleist and FootJoy.
Fila Holding’s net income fell 67.3 percent last year to 153 billion South Korean won, or roughly $110 million. Sales declined 5.1 percent last year to 4 trillion won, or about $2.9 billion. The Fila brand fared worse, with sales dropping 30.4 percent to 897 billion won, or $648 million.
