449 Themes The chosen home of kickass themes…

Diadora is the only Italian athletic footwear and apparel manufacturers to still make products in Italy, a tradition that began in 1948 when the company’s founder, Marcello Danieli, first began working in the trade as a young boy.

Danieli, helped by his wife, managed to successfully launch his first product, mountain climbing boots. During the fifties, a reputation for excellence and quality helped the company grow and become a familiar name throughout the Italian market.

During the economic boom of the sixties, people began to enjoy prosperity and increased recreation. Skiing became popular and Danieli once again met the needs of the market by manufacturing ski boots and the first apres-ski boots.

Next, Diadora introduced walking shoes and shortly thereafter, tennis shoes. With the seventies came a young generation whose explosive interest in athletics initiated a boom in the sporting goods industry. Based originally on the renowned Italian artisan techniques, Diadora’s shoes became more and more technologically advanced, thanks to cooperation from champions such as Vilas, Mulligan, and the legendary Bjorn Borg.

The mid-seventies also marked Diadora’s entry into the soccer category, aided by Roberto Bettega, who provided invaluable consulting information. Diadora America is the #3 brand in the market share in soccer.

Adidas is a major German sports apparel manufacturer, part of the Adidas Group, consisting of Reebok sportswear company, Taylormade golf company, Maxfli golf balls, and Adidas golf and is the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. The company was named after its founder, Adolf (Adi) Dassler, in 1948. Dassler had been producing shoes starting in 1920 in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, with the help of his brother, Rudolf Dassler, who later formed the other shoe company Puma. The company registered as adidas AG (with lower-case lettering) on 18 August 1949. The company’s clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel stripes, and this same motif is incorporated into Adidas’s current official logo. The company revenue for 2005 was listed at €6.6 billion, or about US$8.4 billion. Adidas revenue for 2006 was listed at €10.084 billion, or about $13.625 billion. Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide.

Nike originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS), was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1965. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, making most sales at track meets out of Knight’s car. Many top Oregon runners began wearing the shoes, and the shoe’s popularity grew quickly. The company’s first self-designed product was based on Bowerman’s “waffle” design in which the sole of the shoe was inspired by the pattern of a waffle iron.

The company’s profits grew quickly, and in 1966, BRS opened its first retail store, located on Pico Blvd. in Santa Monica, Calif. In 1971, with the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the newly designed “Swoosh.” [Sources: ‘Swoosh’ by J.B. Strasser and ‘Just Do It’ by Donald Katz.]

The first shoe to carry this design was a soccer/football cleat named “Nike,” which was released in the summer of 1971. In February 1972, BRS introduced its first line of Nike shoes, with the name Nike derived from the Greek goddess of victory. In 1978, BRS, Inc. officially renamed itself to Nike, Inc. Beginning with Ilie Nastase, the first professional athlete to sign with BRS/Nike, the sponsorship of athletes became a key marketing tool for the rapidly growing company.