A Family Business Born in Italy :

First appearing in 1928, the brand La Sportiva was born in the heart of the Italian Trentino, near the Dolomites. Narciso Delladio, a shoemaker who made wooden clogs and leather shoes for the lumberjacks and farmers of the valley, had the idea over the years to turn towards shoes intended for the mountains. In the 1950s, his son Francesco, having joined the family business, decided to launch the production of ski shoes and develop a complete winter and summer collection while continuing to innovate in hiking shoes.

During the 1980s, with the development of climbing competitions and the already apparent need for innovation in terms of climbing shoes, La Sportiva developed and manufactured new climbing shoes in yellow or purple that would become the hallmark of La Sportiva's success, making it a leader in the market.

Subsequently, the brand continues its development thanks to its capacity for innovation, but also to its know-how. By keeping a large part of their production of climbing shoes and mountain shoes in Italy (the Nepal range) and launching new products for ski mountaineering, approach, or more recently in trail running.

Also aware of the importance of environmental preservation and as an Outdoor brand born in the Italian mountains, La Sportiva is very much engaged in this regard. Being part of the 1% for the Planet movement, it donates 1% of its revenue to environmental protection associations. Also, since 2012, it has implemented procedures to certify the textile production chain according to internationally recognized socio-environmental criteria approved by Bluesign®. A member of this Bluesign® collective, it introduced in 2014/2015 the first fully certified products and continues to evolve in this direction. Finally, as written in a previous article (La Sportiva, a sustainable approach that works) it created the Mythos shoe made up of 95% recycled materials.

Strong Links with the Sports it Represents :

Historically anchored in the heart of the Italian mountains, the brand is strongly linked to mountain sports, having started with mountain shoes and then revolutionizing the world of climbing with lightweight and flexible shoes that opened new horizons for climbers.
Today also present among the leaders in ski touring, mountaineering, and mountain running, being present at several competitions as a sponsor or represented by its athletes, it demonstrates its strong attachment to all mountain practices.

This strong link between the brand and the sports it represents primarily passes through its athletes and ambassadors. Among them are big names from different disciplines such as climbing, trail running, or ski mountaineering. For example, Adam Ondra, Alex Honnold, or Barbara Zangerl, who are considered the best climbers today, or the trail runner “hippie” Anton Kupricka, to name just a few.

Strange Heroes: the La Sportiva web series :


The values of the brand such as innovation, respect, and love for the playground, or even self-overcoming, are highlighted by these athletes through a web series inspired in its construction by the famous Netflix series “Stranger Things”.

The web series “Strange Heroes” includes different videos and testimonials showing the motivations and passions of the various highlighted athletes. These videos showcase what makes the values of Sportiva but also provide a motivating and humble vision:

Anton Kupricka and his life philosophy totally related to the outdoor environment, he describes in this video that staying locked up due to injury or to live are only necessary things and that the only added value for him is the fact of living outdoors and running freely:

Adam Ondra talks to us about how to push beyond limits despite injuries and act in the most effective way possible when one is not necessarily the strongest:

Finally, Michele Boscacci shows the reflection of an alpine skier in perpetual search of snow and how to train outside of winter periods. He thus shows the importance of the different seasons and the impact of climate on mountain sports:

These “Strange Heroes” who are the athletes and ambassadors of the brand show the strong links between the brand's vision, what it historically represents, and encourage everyone to push themselves or respect their environment to continue to live their passion.

To find the other videos of the web series: Strange Heroes La Sportiva