This week, Complex was invited to a special trip inside Diadora’s headquarters in Italy to see how sneakers are made when it comes to the storied footwear brand. Before getting inside the factory, visitors have to walk through a crisp space that’s flanked with a ton of Italian footwear heritage, including rare soccer artifacts like Roberto Baggio and George Weah game-worn cleats, as well as an enormous poster of Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi holding the World Cup trophy from July 9, 2006.
Rudy Comazzetto, Category manager Heritage and Lifestyle shoes & Project leader special project at Diadora Sport, says although the brand has such a storied history, they’re looking to make significant impact this year through forward-thinking colorways, collabs that will play to the cool-guy set, as well as improved tech for in-line models.
Diadora made a splash in 2014 with the reintroduction of the N.9000 runner — with projects from retailers such as Patta and Solebox — but the brand is looking to shift gears to the V.7000, another '90s sneaker, to keep the steam going. We got a look at the new shoes as well as archival gems, such as a signed pair of Borg Elites by tennis legend Bjorn Borg.
Check out some of what we saw in the photos below.
