Reebok

History:
Reebok is a British Company founded in 1895 named as Mercury Sports. But later in 1958, two of the founder’s grandsons renamed it as Reebok-the name actually comes from Afrikaans/Dutch spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle. The company’s founders, Jeff and Joe Foster found the name in a dictionary which was won by Joe Roster in a race.
In 1979, Paul Fireman, a partner in an outdoor sports goods distributorship, spotted Reebok shoes at an international trade show. He after negotiating for the North American License, introduced three running shoes in the U.S. same year. They were the most expensive shoes in the market at $60.

Freestyle Aerobics:

In 1982, the first Freestyle athletic shoe was introduced designed especially for women. A shoe for a fitness exercise called aerobic dance. The freestyle model was not just popular in athletic but also on streets for its casual looks. The freestyle has been Reebok’s best selling athletic shoe of all times.

Step Reebok:

In 1986, a fitness professional named Gin Miller suffered a knee injury and began stepping on her back step in an effort to rehabilitate her knee. So was the beginning of step training - soon to become Step Reebok.

In 1989, Reebok launched step Reebok after conducting comprehensive scientific and biomechanical research that showed step aerobics was highly effective format for cardiovascular exercise. It was a revolutionary and effective workout program.

Ex-O-Fit: Reebok also introduced a popular athletic shoe “Ex-O-Fit” for men after the success of freestyle.

The PUMP Technology:

Producing innovative and high-tech products has been Reebok’s corporate strategy after the freestyle.In the late 1980’s, Reebok introduced the Reebok PUMP line (PUMP technology), which used an air bladder, inflated by means of a small pump integrated into the tongue of the shoe, thus holding tightly the wearer’s ankle.

Rbk:

In 2002, Reebok introduced Rbk- a collection of street inspired footwear’s and apparels.

Company:

The Company headquartered at Canton, MA, USA- avails its products to over 170 countries and is sold through a network of independent and Reebok owned distributors. It employs around 75,000 people as of May 2007.

Acquisition:

On Jan 31, 2006, Adidas- Salomon AG acquired Reebok and thus bringing the two brands under one new organization- the adidas group.

Sponsorships:

It holds the rights to manufacture and market both authentic and replica jersey’s and sideline apparel for the teams of the National Football League since 2002, the Canadian Football league since 2004, and is the official shoe supplier to the NFL and the Major League Baseball.

Allen Iverson signed a lifetime contract with Reebok and remains Reebok endorsed athlete throughout his professional career.

Tennis players- Amelie Mauresmo, Nicole Vaidisova and many more.

Rugby Union - Wales National Team and Tasman Makos in New Zealand’s domestic competition.
Cricket - Mahendra Singh Dhoni, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Mahela Jayewardene, Shoaib Malik, and Chris Gayle amongst the many. You can also see the Reebok sponsored on the Umpires as well.

Football – Thierry Henry, Andriy Shevchenko and many more.

The Company also sponsors many other club teams from various nations.

Slogan: “I am what I am”.

The Official Website of the Company

Tommy Hilfiger

History:
Tommy Hilfiger was born on March 24, 1951 and bought up in Elmira, New York. Hilfiger was from an Irish Catholic family, and the eldest son. He did his high schooling from Elmira Free Academy, and thus stopped it all the way after. Started working in retail when he was 18. Hilfiger would trek down to New York City to get his hands on jeans and bell-bottom pants which he customized and resold at local Elmira, New York Store, Brown’s.

Own Business:

the People’s PlaceHilfiger later opened his own store in downtown Elmira, named The People’s Place. The store had a minimum business although being on the hot spot for teens. Over the years, many stores in downtown shifted to Arnot Mall in HorseHeads, New York. It wasn’t long before for the people’s place to become another casualty. It later went bankrupt.

Hilfiger after entering into the design aspect of clothing headed to New York City with his now estranged wife, Susie. He was offered design assistant positions with Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis, though he turned them both down with greater plans ahead in mind.

1998- Hilfiger gave Singer Aaliyah her endorsement deal in which he was honored to have her in his Summer 1998 fashion Show in Jamaica.

2006- Hilfiger had a close encounter with Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose at the Plumm in New York City. Hilfiger reportedly took a couple of swings at Axl Rose for moving his girlfriend's drink, before being carried away kicking and screaming by his own security guards. Club owner Noel Ashman stated, "Axl was a gentleman and had the good sense not to retaliate as he would have done some serious damage to Hilfiger." Later that night, Rose dedicated the song "You're Crazy" to "My good friend Tommy Hilfiger."

Tommy sold his company to Apex Partners an investment company for $1.6 billion.

Family: Hilfiger has four children’s and is currently dating Dee Ocleppo.

The sweatshop crisis:

Hilfiger has been criticized for manufacturing clothes in sweatshops conditions in the United States territory of Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands.

Products:

Tommy Hilfiger is a premium global lifestyle brand, covering a range of major product lines and categories organized by various divisions: Menswear, Womenswear, Childrenswear, Denim, Sport, bodywear and other various licensed products such as fragrance, accessories and home furnishings.

1. True Star- a fragrance created by Hilfiger and with spokesperson Beyonce Knowles.

2. True Star Men- a fragrance created by Hilfiger and with spokesperson Enrique Iglesias.

3. Red Label- a line of denim-themed products including jeans, t-shirts, and sweatshirts.

4. H by Tommy Hilfiger- an upscale line which was ended after Tommy Hilfger sold his company, the same sort of style is now carried on under the Tommy Hilfiger label in their specialty stores.

5. Tommy Hilfiger- the company line of clothes sold in department stores, company stores, and specialty stores.

6. Tommy Sport- a defunct line that came out in the 1990s and capitalized on Hilfiger's popularity in urban areas.

7. Tommy Hilfiger for the Home- a line of bedding and bath products.

8. Tommy Sailing- was due to be released in January or February 2007.