Fila have plenty of reason to celebrate. This year marks the 110th anniversary of their founding, since which they have established themselves as one of Europe’s most enduring sportswear brands, with a track record for delivering prescient designs. The newly released 110th Anniversary Collection, presented in Milan, is Fila’s attempt to distill the breadth of their influence, casting an eye over their heritage to better visualise the future.

FILA 110th Anniversary Collection from HERO magazine on Vimeo.

Seen through the eyes of stylist, creative director and cultural curator Katie Grand, the collection comprises a cherry-picked assortment of re-issued archive pieces, re-invigorated with a few contemporary tweaks. Beginning in 1973, the year Sergio Privitera designed the F-Box logo to really launch Fila into the world of athletic wear, Grand’s selection share a common theme of timeless appeal. “I chose pieces from the archive I responded to immediately,” she said of the process. “I was surprised how modern most of them look and that’s mainly down to having such an iconic logo and branding,”

Building on a foundation of core heritage themes including Tennis, Mountain, Water, Aerobics, Basketball, Golf and Motorsports, each item remains loyal to its original purpose despite the subtle alterations to broaden its function. From golf blousons and knits to swimsuits and bobsleigh catsuits; basketball tops and shorts; aerobics gear, mountain puffers and racing overalls, it’s a collection that appeals as much to the sporty-types as it does the casual wearer, just as the path out of lockdown moves into focus.

For Grand, the past twelve months provided a key influence to her curation of the collection. “Everyone has pretty much spent the last year in much more practical clothing. We’ve not really had anywhere to go, so the focus on fashion has shifted hugely towards something more practical and longer-lasting. The quality of sportswear means you can wear it over and over and not have to replace it.”

In an accompanying film created by Katie Grand and musician/producer/filmmaker Steve Mackey, the collection comes to life on in a blast of neon and fluorescent colours, as models move in sync to the late 80s banger Put Your Filas On by hip hop legend Schoolly D.