Diadora is an Italian

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...

and footwear manufacturing company based in Caerano di San Marco (

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

), subsidiary of Geox, founded in 1948. Diadora produces

football boot Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North America, are an item of footwear worn when playing association football. Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the outsole to aid grip. From simple and humble beginnings football ...

s and

athletic shoes Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

, as well as a range of apparel that includes

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

polo shirts A polo shirt, tennis shirt, golf shirt, or chukker shirt is a form of shirt with a collar. Polo shirts are usually short sleeved but can be long; they were used by polo players originally in India in 1859 and in Great Britain during the 1920s. ...

hoodie A hoodie (in some cases spelled hoody and alternatively known as a hooded sweatshirt) is a sweatshirt with a hood. Hoodies with zippers usually include two pockets on the lower front, one on either side of the zipper, while "pullover" hoodie ...

s, jackets,

leggings Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg warmers or tights ...

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ...

, and

compression garment Compression garments are pieces of clothing that fit tightly around the skin. In medical contexts, compression garments provide support for people who have to stand for long periods or have poor circulation. These come in varying degrees of co ...

s. Diadora also commercialises football balls in the US market.Balls
on Diadora Soccer, 15 August 2020

History

Origins and development

Diadora was founded in 1948 by Marcello Danieli, who first began working in the trade as a young boy. He called his company "Diadora" a name suggested by a friend. The word comes from the name given by the Greeks of Byzantium to the Dalmatian town of

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ser ...

. Originally called "de ladera" or "from Zadar," it was mistakenly copied and translated from Dalmatian to Latin, becoming, along the way "Diadora."Empresa
on Diadora website (in Spanish) Danieli, helped by his wife, managed to successfully launch his first product, mountain climbing boots. The mid-1970s also marked Diadora's entry into the football category, aided by

Roberto Bettega Roberto Bettega (; born 27 December 1950) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. A prolific and athletic player, Bettega is mostly remembered for his successful time at his hometown club Juventus, where he won several titles ...

, who provided consulting information. The company also added the

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

market signing endorsement agreements with Björn Borg.

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seaso ...

striker Marco van Basten became the face of the company in the late 1980s, and launched his own personalized

s, the San Siro Van Basten. Other high-profile football players under Diadora sponsorship have included

George Weah George Tawlon Manneh Oppong Ousman Weah (; born 1 October 1966) is a Liberian politician and former professional footballer who is the incumbent president of Liberia, in office since 2018. Prior to his election to the presidency, Weah served as ...

, Roberto Baggio, Giuseppe Signori,

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional footballer who played solely for Roma and the Italy national team. He is often referred to as ''Er Bimbo de Oro'' (The Golden Boy), ''L'Ottavo Re di Roma'' (The Eig ...

, Roy Keane and

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfield ...

. While between 1997 and 2000, Diadora was the official kit supplier of

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

The 2000s

In early 2000's Diadora was the official kit supplier of several Italian football clubs, with the most notable being

, between 2003 and 2007. In 2008, Diadora SpA signed a joint venture with Win Hanverky Holdings Limited, forming a new company called "Winor International Company Limited" that operates the trademark "Diadora" in China,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

to manufacture, design, promote, distribute, and sell products bearing the brand in those countries. In June 2009, Diadora reached an agreement with Italian shoe-making company Geox's founder and chairman Mario Moretti Polegato to buy its assets through his family's investment arm, LIR. Since then, Diadora has sponsored several football clubs to provide them team uniforms, such as Norwegian Eliteserien clubs,

Viking FK Viking Fotballklubb, commonly known as Viking or Viking Stavanger internationally, is a Norwegian football club from the city of Stavanger. The club was founded in 1899. It is one of the most successful clubs in Norwegian football, having won 8 ...

, FK Bodo/Glimt, and

I-League The I-League (known as Hero I-League for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp) is the second-tier men's professional football competition of the Indian football league system. It is currently contested by 12 clubs across the country with the w ...

side Rangdajied United.Rangdajied United profile
''Facebook.com''. Retrieved 30 June 2021 In this last season 2021/2022 Diadora Launched in Canada and sponsoring Dynamo de Candiac Club. From the 2022–2023 season, Diadora become the new technical supplier of Giresunspor at the

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

, and also Mağusa Türk Gücü in Northern Cyprus KTFF Süper Lig. Even from the same season Diadora will be present on the Danish 1st Division like supplier of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

and

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island, but the name often used informally for the entire island. ...

at the NordicBet Liga. At March 2022 the n. 10 WTA Italian player

Martina Trevisan Martina Trevisan (; born 3 November 1993) is an Italian professional tennis player. Trevisan is the current Italian No. 1, has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and in 2021 had a peak doubles r ...

has become new brand Ambassador.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 45.7812281, 12.0092107, display=title Geox Athletic shoe brands Clothing companies established in 1948 Sporting goods manufacturers of Italy Italian brands Sportswear brands Privately held companies of Italy Italian companies established in 1948 Shoe brands Shoe companies of Italy Companies based in Veneto 1980s fashion 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 2010s fashion Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020