Northern Ireland sportswear factory scrubs up in virus fight

As other factories fall silent due to the coronavirus, the din of production continues at O'Neills sportswear factory in Northern Ireland, where staff have pivoted to making scrubs and facemasks for besieged healthcare workers.

"You always feel proud of your product," business development manager Orla Ward told AFP.

"But this is just on another level because you really are getting it to the people that need it most at this really critical time."


Around 750 staff at the factory in Strabane, which makes kits and leisurewear primarily for Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) sports, were temporarily laid off as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded.

Teams and groups playing GAA sports -- such as hurling and Gaelic football -- began to postpone events and matches as the British and Irish governments restricted gatherings in a bid to stem infections.

"Our business was just basically drying up," Ward explained.

"Over the period of basically two weeks our order book went from extremely busy to practically nothing whatsoever."

But with the factory switching to produce scrubs for local operations of Britain's National Health Service (NHS), 150 staff have been able to return to work.

The news has been a small mercy for the town of Strabane, where the factory is the biggest employer.

- 'Tsunami' of patients -

It has also had an effect on a national scale, boosting Britain's efforts as it prepares for a "tsunami" of new coronavirus patients.

Healthcare workers across Britain have complained of a lack of protective equipment for staff, who are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19.

"The managing director had been speaking to people here in the local hospital and realised that they were in desperate need of scrubs," said Ward.

Ranks of the skilled machinist staff were back at their stations on Thursday, separated from each other under "social distancing" guidelines designed to slow the spread of the virus.

Surrounded by spools of vibrant thread and wearing masks made in the factory, they sewed the maroon fabrics which will soon be worn by frontline NHS staff.

Production began at the O'Neills Strabane location on Wednesday after the fabrics were dyed, given antibacterial treatment and shipped from Dublin -- where the firm is headquartered.

The Strabane factory is currently working to meet an order of 5,000 scrubs -- consisting of a set of trousers, a top and a mask.

"I think there's absolutely a great sense of pride that we can do this," said Ward.

"When you're faced with a challenge, look how quickly and how well you can step up to the plate and really help."

Agence France-Presse

Fila Sneakers

After coming back to the US market about seven years ago, FILA was a family-type brand with its eye on huge channels such as Kohl’s Corporation. In that period, however, FILA set up a new channel called FILA heritage.

This channel is focused on expanding its presence in the sneaker space.

Fila Sneakers The Disruptor and Mind Blower

According to FILA North America’s director of heritage, Louis Colon III, the brand is currently all about the consumer’s attention.


The Heritage category has seen massive sales and becomes a key revenue source especially with its re-released iconic FILA sneakers.

FILA, arguably the most popular sportswear label in the ’90s is making not just a comeback but a rebrand as well.

At the forefront of this rebrand, the wave is the company’s hit sneaker from 1990 – The Disruptor.


This iconic FILA sneaker was first released in 1996.

It’s a massive sneaker with a saw-tooth sole.

The most popularly worn color of the Disruptor is pure white.

The new re-release of this legendary sneaker brings quite a number of fashion trends to the scene.

Trends like the surge of massively shaped sneakers, known as Dad sneakers, the revival of 90’s pop fashion, and possibly fashion’s new love for the intentionally ugly.

The second wave of the Disruptor is being termed the Disruptor 2.

This rebranded FILA shoe has done massive numbers in stores such as Foot Locker.

The CEO of this store, Dick Johnson stated recently that the FILA Disruptor 2 is one of its hottest foot-wears, alongside the timeless Vans, skate shoes.

The sneaker is a top contributor to FILA’s comeback US sales, which saw an increase of 21% in the last quarter.

Matt Powell, a sports industry analyst for research firm NPD Group expressed that the sales are quite a considerable leap.
According to him, dad’s shoes and retro wear are all the rage.

Another blast from the past being brought back by FILA is the Mindblower sneaker.

There are several colorways available for this trainer.

They include white and green and peach, classic navy and red.

The behemoth clumpy design of this shoe meshes well with fashion’s current love for dad sneakers.

Also, with the FILA logo imprinted on the upper, it’s set to mark its place in the logo-mania trend as well.

Although the Disruptor is already among the top sneakers of this season, the Mindblower is showing definite potential at catching up to it.

For quite a while, the FILA brand and its retro logo have been amassing clout in the fashion industry.

Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy who regularly draws style inspiration from the ’80s and ’90s displayed FILA branded wears on the runway around late 2016.

In February of this year, Fendi, the lavish label sparked up FILA’s clout, even more, when it used FILA’s design for its Fall line.

This season, more and more fashion fans are going for logo-centric clothes and retro footwear such as the Mindblower and the Disruptor in particular.

When the international search platform Lyst dropped its list of the hottest products from the last quarter, the Disruptor landed second place in the women’s category.

This list was based on variables such as page views, searches, and sales spanning 6 million items. The Disruptor surpassed hyped products from top brands such as Chanel, Off-white and Prada.

Another ranking list from Lyst of the hottest trainers in several UK cities showed that the Disruptor was the top sneaker in London.


Fila Journey to the Top

The FILA sneakers have the benefit of being easily available, selling at stores such as Urban Outfitters and Journeys.

Their pricing is also another advantage, going for $65 to $70, way less than the luxury brand versions of dad sneakers ( such as Balenciaga’s $895 Triple S) or a competitor like the $100 Nike M2K Tekno.

FILA sneakers are available for men as well as women.

However, Powell observes that the dad sneaker fashion is more prominent with women.

This season is the most significant one FILA has had in a long time in areas like the US and UK.

These are places where FILA vanished from their market after a solid reign in the ’90s.

A Forbes story from 2008 disclosed that in 1997, FILA’s US sales hit a peak of $687 million.

However, issues arose afterward, including a failed attempt at moving the brand to luxury retailers.

Forbes recounted that a decade later- the US division “lost $42 million on $61 million in sales”.

That same year—2007— Gene Yoon, founder of FILA’S Korean division, gathered funds together to purchase FILA’S trademarks from Sports Brands International, their owner at the time.

Yoon supervised FILA’s steady rebirth, which comprised making FILA’s “Heritage” category, a major influence in FILA’s present success.

The Relaunch of the Fila Sneakers

Disruptor and Mind Blower isn’t the only thing the brand is doing.

The brand has released a pocket-friendly collaboration with a weekday.

This release includes breathable water-proof joggers and sneakers all in the brand’s legendary colorway of white, green, pink and blue.

The collection has 20 pieces and according to Louise Lasson, creative director of Weekday, they function as an activewear collection from a minimalistic fashion POV.

Lesson stated that it was necessary to truly create the pieces with a focus on detailing and functionality as well as the fashion facet of urban sportswear.

Currently, as part of moves to solidify their rebranding.

FILA sneakers and clothes are fusing smoothly into wider trendsetting fashion, with the extra dash of authentic heritage.

Louis Colon III, FILA North America’s director of heritage stated last year that “When you see brands in high, high fashion selling the ugly shoe, the bulky shoe—we have had this in our brand DNA since 1993.

He further said they don’t intend to be only a nostalgia label or brand.

They are aiming at balancing the past, future and of course the present.

Clearly, FILA is determined to maintain its presence this time around.

source: usa.inquirer.net

Nike unveils its first self-lacing sneaker

NEW YORK — Forget about slipping out of your shoes because of loose laces or feeling pressure from too-tight tying when doing those sprints.

Nike Inc. has unveiled its first power-lacing sneaker — it allows users to make the fit looser or snugger on the fly by pressing buttons on the side of the shoe.

The world’s largest sportswear brand, based in Beaverton, Oregon, unveiled the sneaker along with a host of other innovations Wednesday at a media event in New York.

The innovations come as Nike is digging deeper into personalized products and services, while focusing on reaching a goal of posting $50 billion in annual revenue by the end of its fiscal 2020 year. It reported $30.6 billion in revenue for its latest fiscal year that ended in May.

Other innovations Nike highlighted include “anti-clog traction,” which uses technology that prevents mud from sticking to the soles of soccer cleats.

Nike also unveiled a new Nike Plus app, an all-access pass for athletes. The app, available in June, connects to its suite of apps that include running and training aids and provides access to Nike experts.

“We’ve entered a new era of personalized performance,” said Mark Parker, Nike’s president and CEO. “Today, athletes want more than just a dash board. They want a relationship.”

Nike says that the potential for shoes with adaptive lacing is huge because it provides tailored-to-the-moment custom fit.

When users step into the shoe, their heel will hit a sensor. The athlete then can press two buttons on the side that adjust the grip. But Nike says that in the future, it won’t be manual. The sensor could sense when the user needs to have the shoe tighter or looser.

The self-lacing sneaker, which is called “Nike HyperAdapt 1.0,” will be out starting the holiday season and will only be available for members of its loyalty Nike+ app. It will be available in three colors. The price was not revealed.

“The adaptive lacing system is an excellent first step towards truly adaptive personalized footwear,” said Matt Powell, sports industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research firm.

source: business.inquirer.net

Adidas counting on World Cup to boost 2014

FRANKFURT, Germany - Adidas, the German maker of sportswear and equipment, said Wednesday it is counting on the World Cup football championships in Brazil to boost sales and earnings this year.

"From an operational perspective, there is no doubt that 2014 will be a successful year for us," said chief executive Herbert Hainer, as the group set a profit target of between 830 million and 930 million euros (1.14 billion and 1.28 billion) for the year.

"Driven by our dominant role at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, we will generate high-single-digit currency-neutral growth," Hainer predicted.

But he cautioned: "Currency headwinds had a significant negative impact on our results in euro terms, and this is also expected to continue in 2014."

In 2013, Adidas insisted that it succeeded in meeting all of its targets.

"We finished 2013 with an exceptionally strong fourth quarter. Currency-neutral sales grew 12 percent, which was above our expectations," said Hainer.

"This ensured that we met our revised full year targets from September, despite a further worsening of currency exchange rates."

Adidas said its bottom-line profit for the whole year soared 49 percent to 787 million euros.

Sales, on the other hand, slipped by 2.6 percent to 14.49 billion euros, largely due to currency effects.

In November, Adidas extended its long-standing sponsorship agreement with the FIFA World Cup tournament until 2030.

The championships are being held in Brazil this year and in Russia in 2018.

"In particular, this year's major sporting events will provide positive stimulus to group sales. As the official partner of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Adidas brand will be the most visible brand during the event and will benefit from record sales in the football category," the group said. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com