MILAN — Fila is doubling down on its visibility in the Italian fashion capital.
After two busy weeks spent outfitting some of the athletes competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and boosting its international profile and sports authority by staging activations during the Games, the company is staying in town to have its say in the fashion arena too.
The firm is marking its return to the Milan Fashion Week calendar with a show scheduled for Sunday, when the Fila Milano special collection designed by industry veteran Alistair Carr will be unveiled.
“2026 is a special year: Fila is celebrating its 115th anniversary and…the winter events in Milano Cortina. We have come back home to our roots,” said Jeremy Jiang, vice president, marketing, at Fila, which was founded in 1911 in Biella, in Italy’s Piedmont region.
“Holding a fashion show in Milan is the best way to directly connect our Italian heritage and sports spirit, as a core point of differentiation,” Jiang said. “Back in 2018, Fila was the first sports brand enrolled into the Milan Fashion Week main official agenda. By coming back, [we] would like to continue leading the trend and strengthen our trend setter position.”
Tapping Carr as creative director for this occasion further signals the company’s ambitions. Holding a master’s degree from Central Saint Martins, Carr has piled up experiences with stints at brands including Pringle of Scotland, Balenciaga, Yeezy and Tory Burch, among others.
Alistair Carr
Courtesy of Fila
“I have been obsessed with the idea of duality for many years now: minimal with super functional, complex technical construction with effortless shape, heritage fused with innovation….It is in these tensions, these conversations, I find interesting sparks start to emerge,” Carr said in a preview.
He said to “expect something unexpected, Fila but not as you know it” at the upcoming show.
In particular, he looked to tap into the vibrant energy of Milan and its blend of modernity and tradition, as well as its mix of lifestyles and generations, for the collection.
Drawing parallels with Fila’s hybrid spirit — the company started as a fabric mill, evolved into an underwear firm and eventually became a sports brand — Carr looked to blur the lines between style and functionality, complexity and sense of ease.
“This is where that duality comes in play: high-performance technical fabrics contrasted with luxury sartorial wools, iconic Fila signatures subverted with unexpected fabric choices, perforated leather in place of athletic mesh and a play on a classic ‘tennis bracelet’ as embroidered trim on a series of graphic draped technical crepe dresses,” he teased.
A preview look of the Fila Milano collection designed by Alistair Carr.
Courtesy of Fila
Key looks will include those inspired by the distinctive Fila velour track jacket, here developed in hand-knit and with a more generous and relaxed volume, as well as a draped dress with nods to the chevron motif that featured on the brand’s first tracksuit designed by Pierluigi Rolando.
“There were so many ideas from just spending a few weeks researching and a brief trip to the incredible Fila archive in Biella, that the challenging part was deciding what to keep for now and what to save for another time,” Carr said. “But that’s really not a bad position to be in.”
Overall, Carr looked to deliver a cross-functional wardrobe conceived for different moments and occasions, hinged on easy-to-approach silhouettes and staples like Crombie coats, bomber jackets and parkas, zip-up blousons and jumpers. More unexpectedly, leather pieces such as sleek blazer jackets and pencil skirts will also be in the lineup, bringing some edge and upping the feminine quotient of the coed range.
While the color palette will focus on the neutral tones of blue, black, khaki green, gray, cream and camel, with bright accents of red and electric blue here and there, the looks will be grounded in flat sneakers, as well as color-blocked running or cycling shoes for a visual punch.