Pony International

Pony
Product type Athletic clothing, footwear
Owner
  • Pony International
  • (Symphony Holdings)
Country United States
Hong Kong (present)
Introduced 1979
Website pony-international.com

Pony is a brand of footwear and other clothing. It was founded in the United States and is now headquartered in Hong Kong under the company name Pony International.[1]

History

Founded in 1972 on Madison Avenue in New York City, Pony was created by industry veteran (and Uruguayan-born[2]) Roberto Muller, along with financing provided by adidas Chairman Horst Dassler. Pony became one of the top athletic brands worldwide. By the mid-1980s, Pony's sales volume reached US$800 million. The Pony brand has been worn by championship athletes in every major sport, including the FIFA World Cup, the NFL's Super Bowl, the CFL's Grey Cup, MLB's World Series, and the NBA Finals.

Pony was owned by the English-based company Pentland in the 1990s before a sale to The Firm entertainment group, based in Santa Monica, California. The Firm relaunched the brand in 2001 with celebrity entertainers including Justin Timberlake, Korn, Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton.

In 2003, Global Brand Marketing, based in Santa Barbara, California, acquired a majority share of Pony, along with Symphony Holdings and Itochu Corporation. In 2006, Pony was purchased by Symphony Holdings, a public company based in Hong Kong. Symphony brought in former partner Infinity Associates (Mardy Cason and Bill Simon), who were the principals who purchased Converse from bankruptcy in 2001, turned the brand around and sold to Nike in 2003 for $305 million. Jim Stroesser, who was the key partner in rebuilding Converse, was asked to be the CEO/President of Pony in 2006. Stroesser's team relocated Pony from Santa Barbara, CA, to downtown San Diego, CA. Pony was in need of a complete turnaround, and Stroesser's team rebuilt the company's infrastructure and positioned the brand as one of America's most authentic sports brands. In 2010 the company's U.S. headquarters were moved to Los Angeles.

Offerings

Originally Pony was known for producing athletic footwear. The company expanded its offerings to include sports clothing, and has more recently produced streetwear.

References

  1. ↑ "Our Headquarter [sic]". Pony International. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
  2. ↑ https://www.nylon.com/articles/pony-spring-14-collection
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