How FILA Took Over The Culture in the 80s & 90s
It’s 2023 and 90s nostalgia is showing no signs of slowing down.
Not only are brands like FUBU and Tommy Hilfiger experiencing a resurgence in popularity, but there’s another brand we have yet to talk about that’s beginning to make its way back into cultural conversations. That brand is none other than
FILA
If you grew up in the 90s, you remember FILA. If you couldn’t afford Ralph Lauren or Tommy, you could still sit at the lunch table in peace with FILA on — but be cautious. Past the year 2000, you’d be risking ridicule.
That said, today’s piece is about how FILA became one of the top clothing brands of the 90s and how it’s making its resurgence today.
Y’all know the vibes. Let’s dive in.
FILA WAS STARTED IN 1911
Two brothers, Ettore & Gianservelo Fila, often referred to as “The Fila brothers,” started their company in Biella, Italy with humble beginnings. They originally produced textiles before selling underwear and eventually moving on to sell leisure wear for people living in the Italian Alps.
They Found Their Swag In the World Tennis
In 1973, after finding success in Italy, the Fila brothers decided to expand into the U.S.
As part of their expansion, they hired famed creative director Pierluigi Rolando who convinced the company to get into sportswear and, more specifically, to get involved with the sports world.
As a company, they were particularly interested in the world of tennis, which by the 1980s had become one of the most popular sports in the world. Their foray into the sport started with stars like Boris Becker.
However…
Fila achieved their real success working with the Number one tennis star in the world Bjorn Borg — a partnership heralded as one of the best sports partnerships ever.
Borg was the perfect match for Fila. He was winning titles, wowing the crowd, and wearing their clothing in his matches. Borg's co-sign brought a new level of attention to Fila and gave it a space in the designer conversations alongside the other popular Italian brands that were emerging in the 80s: Gucci & Louis Vuitton.
To this day, there is a resell market for Fila “Borg” clothing that bears the “BJ” logo emulating the style popularized by Bjorn Borg.
Fila was certainly on its way but…
Hip-Hop Took Its Popularity to New Heights
As we know, fashion is largely influenced by music, and music is largely influenced by drug dealers (those who generally had enough money to buy new clothing and set the trends).
In the 80s, the conversation around fashion was around apparel lines like Gucci & Louis Vuitton — brands that received the “Dapper Dan” touch and began being sported by rappers who hung around the hustlers.
However, even with Gucci and Louis on the scene, another shift occurred when Run DMC hit the scene with “My Adidas.” Run DMC’s arrival brought in a new era of fashion — shell toes and tracksuits.
Tracksuits took over Hip-hop & The Fila Tracksuit Found a Champion
Around that same time that Run DMC found stardom, another hip-hop heavyweight was making his way onto the scene: LL Cool J.
LL was wore a ton of dope clothing lines in the 80s, but the FILA tracksuit was staple for him. Him wearing Fila gave it the instant cool factor and eventually made it popular amongst the youth who emulated rappers.
For reference, in his 1987 song “I’m Bad,” he can be seen donning the FILA tracksuit that would become synonymous with his name.
Hip-hop Culture Turned Into Sneaker Culture
“A lot of those were high-ticket priced and were never targeted to young urban males, but they adopted it to be a part of their culture,” - Louis Colon III, the vice-president of heritage and trends at Fila,
By the 90s Fila was on track to become a household name.
LL, Run DMC, and a host of other artists started rocking their clothing which gave it validity culturally, but what happened in the 90s cemented their place in Black Culture and pop culture.
They signed Grant Hill.
Before signing Grant Hill, Fila wasn’t really known for sneakers. Sports apparel, yes, but nothing that would make them culturally relevant.
That changed with the Grant Hill signing.
When Grant entered the NBA, he was heralded as the next Michael Jordan. Shoe companies were surely clamoring to sign him to an endorsement deal, and out of all the shoes he could’ve chosen Grant picked Fila.
Grant Hill had several sneakers, but the Grant Hill 2’s proved to be the shoe the culture latched onto the most. Rappers still clamor for them today, and many sneakerheads dub them the forefather of chubby dad shoes.
2pac even wore them (see below)
However, by 2000 Fila Dropped in Popularity
Like many fashion trends of the 80s & 90s, Fila’s buzz fizzled by the early 2000s. A combination of Grant Hill’s injuries and the rise of Ralph Lauren, Jordans, and other brands effectively pushed Fila to the backseat.
Moreover, Fila experienced a myriad of management changes, which made it hard for the brand to find stability and fix its perception publicly. They tried to lean into different cultures to no avail.1
But, they Used Nostalgia to “jumpstart” their Resurgence
“My best friend Will and I loved Fila. It represented prestige and everything that was cool to us. When Will passed, we buried him in a black Fila sweat suit, so doing a deal with them has a lot of significance for me.” - Nas, Billboard
Heading into the 2010’s Fila made an attempt to capture nostalgia surrounding its brand by partnering with 90s acts like Wu-Tang & Nas.
The Nas partnership arrived in tandem with his 10th album ,“Untitled” and it proved fruitful as it was the first brand partnership for Nas — an artist who notoriously sidesteps brand partnerships.
Fila ultimately created three custom shoes for Nas and even provided some support for his album release.
The Legacy Continues
Today Fila is under new (and steady) leadership. As a result they are regaining their relevance in the market.
And you’ll never guess how they’re making their stamp again?
Yep, hip-hop artists.
Fila is staying with its hip-hop roots and doubling down on nostalgia at the same time with customer sneaker releases.
Harkening back to their 90s surge in popularity, they did a reboot of the iconic Grant Hill 2’s in partnership with Tupac’s estate and they even released a collab with Notorious B.I.G. for the 25th anniversary of his album “Ready To Die.”
Tupac x Fila collab on Grant Hills
There’s no telling what the future holds for Fila — but again, given Gen Z’s penchant for reviving brands and taking them to new heights I think it’s a safe bet that they’ll be making waves somehow some way.
Fila was one of those brands I didn’t get a chance to rock when I was younger, so who knows, I might have cop some chunky dad shoes for the culture. Those Grant Hills are kinda hard. We’ll see.
Peace.
Nacho’s Finds on YouTube does a really great job of covering this
I saw a woman wearing some incredible colorful Fila *hiking* shoes this summer, it felt like a blast from the past but I was compelled to check out their site afterwards and I loved seeing all the super fun women's shoes they have these days!