"BTS and the World Take Over" FILA's Amazing '3 Trillion'... First Domestic Single Brand to Surpass 600 Billion Won

Best Performance Since Becoming Akushnet's Controlling Shareholder in 2016... Elevated Brand Status
‘One World One Willa’ Marketing Through BTS and Strategic Direct Entry into Southeast Asia
Efforts to Diversify Hit Items by Proposing New Categories Instead of Concentrating on Popular Products

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] FILA has made a new history in the domestic fashion industry. It achieved the remarkable feat of surpassing 600 billion KRW in sales as a single brand in the domestic market for the first time, and also recorded the industry's highest performance across all domestic and international business sectors.

◆ Largest performance in the domestic fashion industry... The only 1 trillion KRW brand = According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 23rd, FILA Holdings, the holding company of FILA Korea (which underwent a physical division earlier this year), reported consolidated sales of 3.4504 trillion KRW and operating profit of 470.7 billion KRW last year. These figures represent increases of 16.8% and 31.8%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. In 2011, E-Land Group's fashion division achieved the industry's first sales of 3 trillion KRW, driven by increased sales in China, but currently, no domestic fashion company exceeds 3 trillion KRW in sales. FILA Holdings explained, "The increase in sales driven by the global enhancement of the FILA brand value led the overall upward trend in consolidated performance."

What is noteworthy is that FILA brand's domestic sales reached 612.2 billion KRW. FILA is effectively the first brand to surpass 600 billion KRW in the domestic market as a single brand (including family brands such as kids and underwear). In 2011, Youngone Outdoor announced surpassing 600 billion KRW as the first outdoor brand, but Youngone Outdoor includes other brands besides The North Face, and the pricing was based on the purchasing system at that time. Therefore, the industry regards FILA as the first brand to truly surpass 600 billion KRW. When combining the sales and royalties of FILA's U.S. subsidiary, the FILA brand's total sales reach 1.4905 trillion KRW. FILA first became a 1 trillion KRW brand in 2018 by achieving 499.9 billion KRW in domestic sales combined with the U.S. subsidiary's sales and royalties. It is the only domestic fashion brand to do so. The only other brand in the domestic fashion market to join the '1 trillion KRW club' is the Japanese SPA (manufacturing, distribution, and sales integrated) brand Uniqlo.

FILA Korea expanded its scale by acquiring the global business rights of the FILA brand in 2007, acquiring Acushnet in 2011, and becoming the controlling shareholder at the end of 2016. The full-scale sales growth began in 2017. This was due to the full consolidation of Acushnet's performance and, above all, the successful brand renewal led by CEO Yoon Geun-chang in 2016, which established FILA as a popular brand both domestically and internationally. Since then, the upward trend continued, and last year, as the brand value rose significantly, it showed balanced growth across all overseas regions.

◆ Diversification of hit products beyond Disruptor 2 = The growth driver of FILA's domestic business is that hit products, once represented by ugly shoes, have expanded into other shoe categories, as well as apparel and accessories. FILA has continuously pursued diversification of new category products beyond the ugly shoe 'Disruptor 2,' which sold 10 million pairs in domestic and international markets.

Besides Disruptor 2, ugly shoes such as FILA Ray and FILA Barricade XT97, as well as court shoes like 'Court Deluxe,' canvas shoes like 'Classic Kicks,' and slipper-type 'FILA Drifter' have all sold over 1 million pairs since their release, earning the title of million-sellers. Recently released products are also recording remarkable sales. In the ugly shoe and daily jogger categories, representative models include Ray Tracer, Skipper, Ornament, and Spline, while among canvas shoes, Center Court, Classic Border, and FILA Como have high sales volumes.

The popularity that started with shoes has expanded to apparel and accessories. The 'FILA Linear Logo Short Sleeve T-shirt' has accumulated sales of about 1 million units from 2018 through the end of last year. The FILA logo is used as a design point, and it has maintained steady popularity regardless of season. The 'Boa Fleece Jacket,' released in July last year, also sold out, gaining popularity. The main new semester backpack products (3 types) released at the end of last year saw sales increase by 230% compared to the same period last year through early March. Some products have already sold out.

◆ Strategic global market approach and diversification of key domestic items = FILA plans to strategically target domestic and international markets this year. In overseas markets, FILA is intensifying its 'One World One FILA' marketing campaign with BTS, who was appointed as the global exclusive model last October. Following a large outdoor advertisement during BTS's performance at New York Times Square at the end of last December, FILA also distributed specially made blankets to fans during BTS's comeback on the U.S. NBC live broadcast in February, conducting global marketing together with BTS.

FILA is also making a full-scale push into the Southeast Asian market. FILA Holdings established a subsidiary corporation (FILA Singapore Holdings) in Singapore earlier this month to oversee the Southeast Asian region. Until now, FILA has mainly operated through licensing partnerships with local companies rather than direct market entry, but it aims to strengthen its presence in Southeast Asia. Malaysia is planned as the first country for direct entry. FILA also plans to sequentially enter new markets without licensees or expand existing regional businesses in other countries.

Domestically, FILA intends to strengthen item diversification. A FILA Korea official stated, "We sponsor three players ranked within the top 10 in the world, including the world No. 1 female tennis player, who express satisfaction wearing shoes developed by our research and development center, FILA LAB, while achieving good results." He emphasized, "Based on world-class functionality, we will introduce a variety of products that combine functionality, design, and reasonable prices, including not only various shoes but also apparel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.