-The following ranking is in no particular order-
NO.1 Nike (American sports brand)
Nike is an American multinational company engaged in the design, development, manufacturing and global marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories and services. The company is headquartered in downtown Portland, near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world’s largest supplier of sports shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment.
The company was formally established on May 30, 1971. Its predecessor was the Blue Ribbon Sports Company, which was invested in by current Nike presidents Phil Knight and Bill Ballman. Nike in English originally meant the Greek goddess of victory. The trademark symbolizes the feathers of the Greek goddess of victory – representing speed, but also dynamics and gentleness. The logo pattern is a small hook, the shape is simple and powerful and it conveys “lightning-fast”. At first glance, it makes people think of the speed and explosive power generated by using Nike sporting goods. The first time the name “Nike” was used in sports shoes, the sole had a square convex grain to enhance stability. There are knife-shaped curved hooks on both sides of the shoe body, symbolizing the wings of the Greek goddess.
The company produces a wide range of sporting goods such as clothing, footwear and other sports equipment. Nike sells its products under its own brand as well as Nike Golf, Nike Pro, Nike +, Air Jordan, Nike Blazers, Air Force 1, Nike Dunk, Air Max, Foamposite, Nike Skateboarding, Nike CR7, and subsidiary including Jordan, Hurley International and Converse. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey (later renamed Nike Bauer) from 1995 to 2008, previously owned Cole Haan and Umbro.
Some of Nike’s latest shoes use Flywire and Lunarlite Foam to reduce weight. Air Zoom Vomero running shoes were launched in 2006 and are now in its 13th generation, featuring breakthrough innovative technologies, including a full-length air cushion sole, an external heel counter, a heel cushion absorption and Fit Frame technology to ensure a stable fit.
The ZoomV family, the Zoom Vaporfly Elite version, Zoom VaporFly 4% can be regarded as the current Nike’s strongest running shoes, but the Zoom Vaporfly Elite version is not actively marketed – it is only tailored for athletes.
Nike has always motivated every athlete in the world and presented its best products as a glorious task. The initial air cushion technology brought a revolution to the sports world. The sneakers made with this technology protects the athlete’s knees and when it is used for strenuous exercise, it reduces the impact on the knee. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world. The “Just Do It” is the highly recognized trademark of the Swoosh logo.
Development path
In 1963, Phil Knight, who graduated from the University of Oregon, and his mentor, Bill Bowerman, co-founded a company called “Blue Ribbon Sports,” which specializes in sporting goods. In 1964, Knight and his coach, Bowerman, each invested $500 to set up a sports shoe company, named Blue Ribbon Sporting Goods.
In 1971, Nike was formally established. Its predecessor was the Blue Ribbon Sports Company, which was invested in by current Nike President Phil Knight and coach Bill Bowman.
In 2001, Nike introduced a new cushioning technology called Shox after developing its air cushion technology. Sports shoes produced using this technology are also very popular and sales are climbing. In addition to sports shoes, Nike’s clothing is also innovative. For example, high-performance textiles made with FIT technology can effectively help athletes train and compete in any weather conditions. Other sporting goods made by Nike, such as watches, glasses, etc., use high-tech crystals.
NO.2 Adidas (Germany)
It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, Second only to Nike – it is the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world and is a holding company of the Adidas Group. It consists of Reebok Sportswear, TaylorMade Golf (including Ashworth), Austria fitness technology company Runtastic and Bayern Munich 8.33% football club.
Founded in 1949, Adidas was named after its founder Adolf Adi Dassler. In 1920, he began producing footwear in Herzogenaurach in Bavaria in German. On August 18, 1949, he registered the name Adidas AG. Adidas was originally opened by two brothers. After parting ways, Adolf’s brother Rudolf Dassler opened the sports brand puma. Adidas classic slogan was “Impossible is nothing” and in March 2011 spent 160 million euros to launch a new slogan: “Adidas is all in”.
Adidas has three series and three logos, each with its own meaning:
1. Adidas Sports Performance series (three stripes)
The corresponding logo of the sports performance series is the most common three-strip logo in Adidas store. It was designed by Adidas founder Adolf Dassler. The three-striped Adidas logo represents the mountains, symbolizing the challenge, the future and the desire to constantly achieve goals.
2. Adidas Sports Classic Series (Adidas original)
The logo is a clover logo. Many people think that the logo of the Adidas clover represents a blooming flower, which represents the Olympic spirit (and also the goal that athletes all over the world have been pursuing) – faster and stronger. But in fact, the Adidas clover logo originally represented the connection of three continental plates – shaped like a three-dimensional plane of the earth very similar to a world map and symbolizing the movement of the world. At the same time, this logo also symbolizes the three-striped road stitched by Adidas brand founder Adi Dassler on sports shoes.
3. Adidas sports fashion series – Style (three sub-brands: Y-3, SLVR, NEO LABEL)
The logo is a three-striped logo on the circle. Adidas style is a high-end fashion brand that is a collaboration between the Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto and the Adidas brand. Its products can be said to be the most close to fashion in the Adi brand, and to a certain extent, it is a luxury series. The meaning of the logo symbol represents the spirit of the influx of people who always stand at the forefront of fashion and pursue high-end enjoyment. The logo is divided into three stripes in the middle of the circle.
The three logos of Adidas have not existed since the brand’s initial stage. It can be said that the ever-changing history of the Adidas logo is also a testament to Adidas – a world-renowned sporting goods company a proof of continuous progress
The first Adidas clothing project was the Franz Beckenbauer sportswear created in 1967. The Copa Mundial football boots were released in 1979 for the World Cup in Spain. It has the honor of the best-selling boots of all time.
NO.3 Reebok (America)
Reebok is a fitness brand from the United States dedicated to becoming a top fitness brand in the minds of fitness enthusiasts. Headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, the company designs, sells and distributes sports shoes, fitness shoes, casual shoes, sportswear and equipment worldwide under the Reebok, Rockport, CCM, JOFA, KOHO and Greg Norman brands and the Polo Ralph Lauren brand.
In 1895, Joseph William Foster, out of his love for sprint, but at the same time suffering from insufficient funds, tried himself to put nails in his shoes. This was the world’s first pair of spiked shoes at the time – “Foster running shoes”. The birth of spiked shoes caused a lot of sensation at the time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, runners from many countries wore this “Foster running shoes” into the arena.
Reebok, pronounced from the African language, is a small African antelope that runs very fast. Named after “Reebok”, it is because of its high-speed running and light posture, which represents the sports spirit of Reebok. In addition, the regular footsteps of “tick…tick…tick…” when the antelope runs, also vividly indicates Reebok can run lightly and steadily in the increasingly fierce sports brand market! One of the most classic slogans in the past is “I am what I am”
NO.4 Puma (Germany)
Puma was founded in 1948 in Germany. Puma means cougar, a large multinational company in Germany that produces shoes and sportswear and it was founded by Rudolf Dassler. Puma is a world-renowned sports brand and the new brand slogan “Forever Faster” is designed to market professional sports equipment, including running, football, golf and even racing equipment. The Puma Group owns the brands Puma, Cobra Golf and Tretorn.
Today Puma has become the fastest growing sports brand . It focuses on leisure and sports in which sportswear promotes the freedom lifestyle while the leisure series is the the combination of high fashion and puma sports concepts.
NO.5 Fila (Italy)
Fila is the in the world’s top 10 sports brand and is mainly engaged in the development of elegant sports related products such as tennis, skiing, golf, yoga, and racing clothing. Bright and bold design style, exquisite elegance and unique product features make Fila unique in the world’s top sports brands.
Fila was founded in 1911 by the Fila brothers in Biella at the foot of the Italian Alps and has a history of more than 100 years. In the 1970s FILA diversified its strategies to expand into multiple sportswear businesses. In the following years it developed golf, tennis, fitness, yoga, running and skiing collections and finally established the backbone of world famous sports brands. It is considered to be the representative of art and a model of luxury.
FILA presents a classic, fashionable, sexy and high-quality Italian image from beginning to end. Not only that; its enthusiasm and vitality, as well as the pursuit of simple beauty, have deeply influenced generations. Today, we are seeing a familiar but new FILA brand image. In addition to the traditional artistic concept, it now also reflects the modern fashion trend. It is not limited to the creation of fashion hits. FILA also hopes to extend fashion concepts: The pursuit of comfort, ease; attention to detail, beauty; chasing dreams – all these ideas are injecting fresh power into the FILA brand and today’s FILA subverts the traditional sports image with new fashion containing unexpected energy.
NO.6 Mizuno (Japan)
Mizuno is a sports brand founded in 1906 by Mizuno Japan. After more than a century of continuous efforts it has become the world’s leading manufacturer of sports equipment, clothing and footwear.
Mizuno strives to serve all types of sports and strives to make sport more enjoyable and exciting. The product range is complete, covering almost all major sports, reaching more than 300,000 categories. Product development adheres to a wide range of scientific research to ensure that sports are more comfortable and safe, while firmly believe that technology and human sensibility combines to create perfect quality.
While expanding the product range, Mizuno continues to adopt new technologies, develop new products and enhance the functionality of our products.
Mizuno started as a baseball product and later involved into golf clubs. In the 1960s and 1970s, it entered the era of running shoes and became an international comprehensive sports brand.
NO.7 Umbro (UK)
Umbro is an internationally renowned brand with a history of 94 years (1924–2018) based on the British football clothing manufacturer, founded in 1924 by the British Humphrey brothers. The brothers merged the five English letters in their English name (Humphrey Brothers) into the word Umbro and later the diamond double diamond pattern became the registered trademark of Umbro today.
Umbro, with its more than 90 years of history, has everything for football-related equipment. It has become a world-famous professional football clothing and equipment supplier, enabling athletes to fully realize their sports potential.
During the growth of Umbro, the company has accompanied many teams, who won the World Cup, including the 1966 World Cup England team and that exact same year is also Umbro’s most glorious historical moment, when16 teams entered the competition, there were 15 teams wearing Umbro jerseys.
Its products:
1.soccer shoes
Umbro football shoes mainly include England home series, England away series, five-a-side football series and other products. The material is generally made of natural leather, but also artificial leather, and the sole is made of TPU. (TPU has excellent high tension, high tensile strength, toughness and resistance. Grinding, cold, water, aging, weather resistance and other special characteristics. TPU is a mature environmentally friendly material)
2.sports shoes
Umbro sneakers mainly include UmbroSX series, Umbro diamond training series, Umbro running series and other products. Umbro sneakers are breathable and comfortable, and they are very popular among sports people.
3.casual shoes
Umbro casual shoes mainly include Umbro England leisure, Umbro international color, Umbro five-a-side football leisure series, Umbro sports and other leisure products.
NO.8 Kappa (Italy)
The Kappa brand was born in Italy in 1916. It began to emerge in Europe in the 1960s and 1970s and gradually developed into the most famous sports and casual clothing brand in Europe. The sport, youth and passionate lifestyle represented by the Kappa brand has long been known as the brand’s highly recognizable brand identity – two men and women sitting back to back.
Nowadays, the Kappa brand has successfully transformed into a functional sports lifestyle brand based on the inheritance of the original sports genes and the integration of new product technologies. With the core concept of “rebellion, passion and publicity”, the brand aims to “promote trend culture and influence fashion life” and to substantially improve the wearing experience of consumers through functional product design, including entertainment, music, in-depth cooperation in different fields such as art, integrates trend culture into products that are constantly upgrading and upgrading. The aim is to be passionate about pop culture, focus on quality of life, full of exploration spirit for new things, have their own unique trend attitude and desire to express themselves.
NO.9 Diadora (Italy)
Diadora is the leading Italian international sports brand in Europe. It is the only Italian sports shoes and garment manufacturer that inherits the original Italian style. It was founded in 1948. Its name comes from a town in ancient Greece. The original meaning is “with talent”. The Italian company produced sports products under its name and was known for its ski boots and casual shoes, but with the advancement of sports technology and the correct marketing, the brand of Diadora is now more exclusive. The more prominent it is, the more young people will love it and it is now a leading manufacturer of sports products.
Many of the world-class athletes are sponsored by Diadora, including the Series A team Rome, the famous star Robert Baggio, Vieri and world football referee Corina.
NO.10 Lotto (Italy)
In 1973, Lotto was founded in Italy. At the beginning of its establishment, Lotto focused on tennis. When we mentioned Lotto, the first thing that comes to mind are tennis shoes and tennis t-shirts.
The world’s largest sports event in the nearly 100-year history of the Apennine Peninsula: Football. He gave football boots and sportswear to the green giants. Nowadays even the law enforcement on the field: the referees also prefers Lotto and football supplies have gradually become the main battlefield of Lotto.
Lotto Sport Italia is an Italian sportswear manufacturer, which produces sporting and casual clothing and footwear. Most famously worn by DB Rutter in the late 1990s.
Lotto was established in 1973 by the Caberlotto family (who were the owners of the football team F.C. Treviso) in Montebelluna, northern Italy, the world centre of footwear manufacturing. In June 1973 Lotto made its debut as a sports footwear manufacturer. Tennis shoes signalled the beginning of production followed by models for basketball, volleyball, athletics and football.
Sports clothing was the company’s next venture. In the first ten years, Lotto focused on the Italian market. During its first decade, corporate strategy concentrated on making tennis footwear and clothing and already early on sponsored big professional tennis stars (for example Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker, Thomas Muster and Andrea Gaudenzi).
NO.11 Converse (America)
Converse was born in 1908. Since its inception, Converse has adhered to the independent design of the brand and does not follow anyone. Initially only “rubber shoes” were produced, but tennis and basketball shoes were soon started. Converse’s global headquarters are in Boston, USA.
The collection of vintage, pop and environmentally friendly ALL STAR canvas shoes is a spiritual symbol of American culture. With its freewheeling, free and unconstrained wearing style, it is also a loyal partner of young people who pursue self-fashion. Now listed as the most proud of the three classics are Chuck Taylor All Star (All Star Classic Canvas), Jack Purcell (open smile), Cons (skateboarding shoes) three series.
NO.12 Asics (Japan)
Asics is a manufacturer of athletics products. The company was founded in 1949, when the 31-year-old founder Kihachiro Onitsuka began making sneakers in his own home in Kobe, Japan. At that time, the company’s name was Onitsuka, and the “Sunday Miles, the most agile, Asia’s strongest king of the beasts – Tiger” became the trademark of “Onitsuka Tiger”. In 1977, it merged with GTO and Jelenk to become Asics.
In English Asics is the first letter of every word in the Latin quote “Anima Sana in Corpore Sano”, which means “a sound spirit is in a healthy body.”
The first breakthrough of Onitsuka Tiger was in 1951, when a long-distance runner wearing Tiger running shoes won the marathon long-distance race in Boston. Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, who competed barefoot and won the marathon Olympic gold medal twice in 1960 and 1964 also chose Tiger when he started wearing running shoes. In 1970, Tiger became the largest running shoe manufacturer in the United States. Asics became the first official sports shoe sponsor in the history of the Olympic Games in 1992.
At present, Onitsuka Tiger is the name of a series belonging to Asics, the design is more focused on the retro trend. One of the most popular models of Onitsuka Tiger is the yellow-black Tai Chi. The main reason is that Bruce Lee’s classic style in his legacy “Death Game” is wearing this particular shoe. Later Uma Thurman was wearing a yellow-black Tai Chi type in the 2003 movie “Kill Bill”.
Its products represent Japan’s exquisite and professional national culture. The brand adheres to high-tech, high-quality standards and has developed a number of patents that combine the prevention of wearer injury with sports fun.
NO.13 Columbia (America outdoor sports brand)
The Columbia brand was founded in 1938. Oregon often has rain, so in the early years, Columbia started out as a raincoat and rain hat manufacturer. Nowadays, it has developed into the world’s largest after continuous development of various outdoor sportswear and high-tech fabrics. The outdoor clothing brand, its superior product quality surpasses the test and is recognized by the people of the world.
Columbia has launched a range of shoes and accessories including outdoor casual wear, sportswear, off-road and lightweight and the company is committed to developing innovative products that are both functional and stylish, providing high quality brand value.
Since then, it has continuously developed diversified products and researched high-tech fabrics. Among them, exclusive research and development of the classic patent fabrics – Omni-Tech (windproof waterproof breathable fabric), Omni-Dry (quick-drying fabric), has passed strict quality technical test (Tested Tough), combined with the excellent three-dimensional cutting design, “Interchange System” three-in-one design to fully meets personal needs and providing the best convenience and flexibility.
NO.14 New Balance (America)
New Balance, a brand founded in 1906 by William J. Riley in the American Marathon City of Boston, is known in the United States and many countries as “President Jogging Shoes” and “King of Jogging Shoes”.
Since its founding in Boston, USA in 1906, New Balance has continued to advance its technological materials, product appearance and comfort with the spirit of manufacturing superior products.
Constantly developing newer ergonomic shoes with new technology, aiming at the pursuit of extremely comfortable shoes, combined with the popular design feeling. New Balance has become the perfect representative of retro and innovation.
Another big feature different from other sports brand shoes is the variety of sizes: New Balance offers different widths of the same size, narrow, standard and wide, And subdivided into different degrees in narrow and wide so any selected a pair of New Balance shoes will be quite comfortable.
NO.15 Under Armour (America)
Founded in 1996, Under Armour was founded by former Maryland football star Kevin Plank, an American sports equipment brand headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, which produces sports equipment.
Tights are the most famous products. Each tight has its own unique technological content such as breathable, quick-drying, comfortable, reducing friction and muscle support. The Under Armour sports brand has three series of equipment: Heat Gear Hot Equipment series, Cold Gear cold equipment series and Foot Wear sports shoes series. The Heat Gear and Cold Gear series of equipment are designed using the Under Armour brand’s revolutionary innovative fabrics, which are designed to meet the needs of different temperatures and climatic conditions, so that athletes still show the best in extreme environments. The Footwear sneaker series has carried out many technological innovations – especially the elastic supportive technology and the four-dimensional air cushion technology.
