It also established a all black fila shoes joint venture with Italian eyewear manufacturer De Rigo S.p.A. to produce a branded line of sunglasses. Fila even created a skin care line including sun lotions and bath products. The company hired a slew of endorsers to support its new sports lines, including beach volleyball player Randy Stoklos, marathon runner German Silva, soccer players Claudio Reyna and Franco Baresi, and tennis player Marc Philippoussis.The diversification also re-emphasized high-end sportswear and casual footwear with a particular focus on the long-neglected women ' s market. In 1995 Fila bought market share and expertise in women ' s and children ' s clothing via the acquisition of French sportswear manufacturer Dorotennis S.A.

A U.S. investment group called Continental Partners emerged as a suitor, as did Golden Gate , another investment firm, and VF Corporation, the maker of Lee and Wrangler jeans. By late 2002, however, no deal had been completed.In the meantime, CEO Scannavini resigned in February 2002 and was succeeded by Marco Isaia, who all fila shoes had served as Fila ' s chief operating officer since January 1998. In June 2002 Fila opened a Fila Sport Life flagship store in Tokyo . In September 2002 Fila ' s shareholders approved a plan to recapitalize the company, which included dipping into company reserves, executing a reverse one-for-two stock split, and completing another all white fila shoes capital increase in order to raise a further EUR 146.7 million.

Savvy endorsement contracts with the likes of basketball stars Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse helped push the brand from an eighth-place ranking worldwide to number three by 1996. In acknowledgment of the fact that America is its largest and most important market, Fila moved its global operations center to its U.S. headquarters mid-decade. Italian investment firm Gemina S.p.A. owned a majority interest in Fila in 1996, but that ownership structure appeared subject to change in 1997. Ongoing negotiations between Italian apparel giant Marzotto S.p.A . and Gemina could portend a merger or acquisition among the businesses.

Fila was established in 1923 all white fila sneakers by eponymous brothers to manufacture knitwear, specifically underwear. The company operated in this field for nearly a half-century, enduring the Great Depression , political upheavals, and high inflation throughout the ensuing decades. It was not until the 1970s and the arrival of managing director Enrico Frachey that the company began to take its present shape. Frachey, who served the company from 1974 to 1979, has been credited with transforming Fila into a manufacturer of athletic apparel. An endorsement contract with tennis star Bjorn Borg proved particularly important to the company ' s successful penetration of high-end markets for tennis and skiwear.

Over the course of the decade, Fila rode a rising tide of popularity into country clubs and onto the ski slopes of Europe and the United States . Though it did not become a runaway hit, Fila and its trademark " F " logo were widely recognized throughout the world of sports apparel and footwear by the end of the 1970s. Frachey left the company late in the decade.As they had been in the 1970s, sponsorships were vital to Fila ' s success 20 years later. In 1994, the company inked an endorsement contract with Grant Hill of the NBA ' s Detroit Pistons. After he won 1995 ' s Rookie of the Year award, sales of his namesake shoe skyrocketed to over 1.5 million pairs.

Fila fought the perception blue fila sneakers that it was a " fashionable but low tech " brand by establishing a research and development center in Portland, Oregon, and staffing it with engineers hired away from Nike. Fila ' s 1996 annual report stressed the strategic shift, asserting " Style is our heritage. Creativity is our strength. Technology is our future. " The company also established new research and design centers in the key geographic markets of Italy and Korea . Efforts at geographic diversification were so successful that by 1995, Korea had grown to become Fila ' s second-largest market, behind the U.S. but exceeding Italy.