Italian footwear specialist Nice Footwear, renowned for its decade-long expertise in developing, producing, and distributing Ellesse sneakers in Italy, has expanded its licensing agreement to encompass the French market. This move strengthens its partnership with Pentland, the UK-based holding company behind the Ellesse brand.
With a proven track record in the French market, Nice Footwear established a showroom in Paris’s Marais district in January 2022.
“Ellesse is an athleisure brand with a unique heritage that is perfectly consistent with Nice Footwear’s development strategy. Our plan is to consolidate [Nice Footwear’s] position as Italy’s leading centre for footwear design and development, by promoting craftsmanship with an Industry 4.0 approach,” said Bruno Conterno, president and CEO of Nice Footwear. “Relaunching an Italian brand that has made sportswear history is a major opportunity to promote local know-how and manufacturing expertise, while adopting the most advanced technology and industrial innovation,” he added.
The extension of the licensing agreement underscores the ongoing collaboration between Nice Footwear and Ellesse. In recent years, the iconic Italian brand, founded in Perugia in 1959, has experienced a resurgence, witnessing a 30 per cent revenue growth in Italy during the last season. A pivotal role in this resurgence was played by the first global project initiated by Nice Footwear: the Fall/Winter 2024 collection featured the LSR capsule collection, a contemporary reinterpretation of an archival model from 1978 designed by Till Jagla.
Established in 2004 in Padua, Nice Footwear manages not only the Ellesse license but also its own brand Kronos, along with two licensed brands, Lyle & Scott and Avirex.
