FILA Korea CEO Gene Yoon received the Knight of the Order of the Merit of the Italian Republic at the 3rd Annual Korea-Italy Forum on December 12th. According to a statement, the Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic is “one of the highest honorable orders given by the Italian government to those who show great effort in social, cultural, and economical relationship between Italy and a foreign country.”


In 2007, Fila Korea Ltd. and its holding company, Global Leading Brands House, purchased Fila USA and all global Fila operations from Sport Brands International Ltd. for $400 million.


Ambassador Leggeri said, “This honorable order presented by the Italian government commemorates Gene Yoon’s long standing commitment and effort to bring two nations together by through his dedication and history with the Italian Brand Fila and his great management of the corporation.”


Yoon said “I will do my best to continue developing the relationship between our two nations to help both economic and cultural interchange between Korea and Italy.”