 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Sports equipment |
| Founded | 19 June 1959; 66 years ago (1959-06-19), inPerugia,Italy |
| Founder | Leonardo Servadio |
| Headquarters | , England, United Kingdom |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Sportswear,footwear |
| Parent | Pentland Group |
| Website | ellesse.com |
Ellesse is an Italian sport apparel company originally founded in 1959 inUmbria, Italy. It has been part of the BritishPentland Group since 1987.
Ellesse was founded by Leonardo "Mantis" Servadio on 19 June 1959 inPerugia, Umbria, Italy. The name Ellesse derives from Servadio's initials, "L.S.",[1] which are spoken "elle" and "esse" in Italian.
Ellesse grew in popularity during the 1970s as a producer of skiwear, such as quilted jackets and ski pants. In 1979, Ellesse's Jet Pant, a ski pant featuring padded knees and a wide lower leg to fit around a ski boot, was included in an event at thePompidou Centre in Paris celebrating Italian design.[2]
Another sport with which Ellesse has been closely associated since its early years is tennis. The Ellesse logo references the form of a tennis ball with the shape of the tips of a pair of skis.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Ellesse gained a reputation for combining sportswear functionality with street-level fashion styling. It was one of the first sportswear brands to feature their logo prominently on the outside of their garments. During the mid-1980s, French designerJean-Charles de Castelbajac worked with Ellesse, an early collaboration between a sportswear company and a fashion designer. The UKcasuals adopted the brand in the 1980s as premium sportswear took off across Britishlad culture.
A number of sports celebrities have endorsed Ellesse, includingtennis playersTommy Haas,Chris Evert,Guillermo Vilas,Boris Becker,Mats Wilander,Pat Cash,Arantxa Sánchez,Anna Kournikova andJose Vilela, skiersMarc Girardelli andJean-Luc Crétier, andFormula 1 driverAlain Prost.
Other celebrities associated with the brand include boxerMuhammad Ali,Natas Kaupas andMaurice Cheeks, and actorsBrigitte Nielsen andRoger Moore.
Ellesse also ventured into football sponsorship, and it manufactured the kits for theNew York Cosmos in the 1980s.
In October 2021, Elesse partnered with the YouTube groupThe Sidemen in a collaboration with their own clothing brand, SDMN.
In 1994, British brand management companyPentland Group purchased 90% of the shares of Ellesse for £20 million. Pentland had been Ellesse's UK distributor since 1981. Servadio retained 10% of the shares.[3]
Pentland Group also owns other well-known sportswear brands, such asBerghaus andSpeedo.[4] It currently licenses the Ellesse brand to partners in countries around the world, who manufacture and distribute Ellesse products in their territory.
Ellesse celebrated its 50th anniversary with a party inRome in July 2009.
