Arena S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturing company of competitive swimwear created in 1973 by Horst Dassler. The company is currently headquartered in Tolentino, Italy. In 1990, Arena was sold by Adidas to Japanese corporation Descente Ltd., which still commercialises its products.
It has subsidiaries in France, Germany, and the United States, and also operates through a global network of distributors and licensees, with presence in over 100 countries around the world.
History
Arena was created in 1973 by Horst Dassler, son of Adidas founder Adolf Dassler,[3] in order to manufacture competitive swimwear. The idea of producing sportswear came up to Dassler after the astounding performance of swimmer Mark Spitz at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, where he won seven gold medals.[4]