Superga (shoe brand)
Superga is an internationally known Italian sports shoe brand from Turin , whose roots go back to 1911.
Company history
In 1911, the Italian tire manufacturer Walter Martiny from Turin began producing waterproof rubber boots in his company Walter Martiny Industria Gomme . In 1925, Martiny expanded the portfolio under the model name 2750 to include lightweight sports shoes made of cotton upper material with vulcanized rubber soles , the design of which was to become synonymous with the Superga brand. Martiny finally renamed his company Superga SpA after the nearby pilgrimage church Superga . From 1934 shoes for other sports such as tennis or sailing were added.
Superga shoes enjoyed increasing popularity over the years, initially in the Italian home market. In 1951 Pirelli took over the majority of Superga and increased the production of shoes from two to 12 million pieces per year. From the 1980s, clothing and underwear for women and men were first launched on the market under the name Superga. France , Spain and Germany were among the exporting countries with the highest turnover . The 1980s in particular, including the Paninari era , were the heyday of Superga shoes, which had achieved cult status in Italy. In 1990 Superga took over the French sports brand K-Way.
From the beginning of the 1990s, however, the company fell into a crisis due to strong competition from other sports shoe manufacturers. In 1993 the Pirelli Group sold the Superga SpA together with K-Way to a large extent to the Milanese financial company Sopaf SpA. In the mid-1990s, CP Company founder Massimo Osti worked as a designer for Superga. By the late 1990s, Superga SpA appeared to have recovered and reported profits. The early 2000s were again difficult times for the shoe brand after a slump in sales and high losses. In 2002 Sopaf sold the Superga brand to the Milanese sportswear company Formula Sport Group for 12.5 million euros.
The Turin-based BasicNet SpA, founded in 1995 by the Italian entrepreneur Marco Boglione (* 1956), acquired the worldwide license rights for Superga from Formula Sport in 2004 and finally bought the Superga brand from the company in 2007. BasicNet includes the brands Kappa , Robe di Kappa, Superga, K-Way, Jesus Jeans, AnziBesson and Lanzera. BasicNet granted the license rights for the North American market in 2007 to the US shoe manufacturer RG Barry and finally in 2011 to the American shoe designer Steve Madden . Madden, in turn, hired twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as chief designers for Superga North America.
At the beginning of the 2010s, Superga was represented in around 70 countries around the world with over 210 single-brand stores, which were primarily run as franchises .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ La Superga , vogue.it, accessed: August 8, 2013
- ↑ Superga: About us , superga.com, accessed August 8, 2013
- ↑ Superga: Turnaround achieved ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , textilwirtschaft.de, October 20, 1998
- ^ RG Barry Corp. Becomes Superga (R) Canvas / Active Footwear Licensee in the US and Canada , prnewswire, June 19, 2007
- ^ Steve Madden Announces Agreement to Become the Exclusive License for the Superga® Brand in North America , bloomberg.com, September 12, 2011
- ^ Bog growth for Superga , Shoe Intelligence via basicpress, June 17, 2011
