Adio Footwear (pronunciado en inglés "audio") es una compañía estadounidense de material skateboard, especialmente zapatillas, donde es una de las compañías punteras.  Historia. Fue fundada en 1998 en Carlsbad, California, por el ex skater profesional Chris Miller, propietario también de Planet Earth Skateboards.   Adio patrocina a skaters profesionales del nivel de Tony Hawk, Bam Margera, Kenny Anderson, Danny Montoya o Jeremy Wray. Todos ellos además de ser sponsorizados por Adio son diseñadores de sus propios modelos de zapatillas Adio. En el mundo de la música, también ha patrocinado a bandas como blink-182, dónde Mark Hoppus en el vídeo "The Rock Show" aparece con una camiseta de Adio. Actualmente, Adio patrocina a bandas como Green Day, Bloodhound Gang y, especialmente, los finlandeses HIM (banda predilecta y amiga de Bam Margera), quienes prestan incluso el logotipo de la banda a modelos de zapatillas de Adio.   En 2006, la compañía crea Adio Limited Projects, una serie de material limitado creado por sus skaters en los que se incluyen zapatillas y todo tipo de ropa de calle urbana. La banda de metal alternativo CKY también diseña zapatillas Adio, ya que, curiosamente, uno de los hermanos de Bam Margera, Jess Margera, es el batería de esta banda.  Actualmente, Adio forma parte del conglomerado de compañías de deportes extremos K2 Sports.

Equipo Adio Tony Hawk, mostrando el logotipo de Adio en su casco.

• Skateboard: Tony Hawk, Brian Sumner, Kenny Anderson, Danny Montoya, Ed Selego, Jeremy Wray, Shaun White, Bam Margera, Nick Dompierre, Ernie Torres, Joey Brezinski, Steve Nesser y Chris Roberts.
• Surf: Taylor Knox, Tim Curran, Mike Losness, Nate Yeomans, Nathaniel Curran.
• Snowboard: Shaun White, Pat Moore, Eero Niemela.

Alpinestars is a safety gear manufacturer for several types of racing (Moto GP, Motocross, Formula 1), as well as extreme sports. They also produce casual mens and womens sportswear lifestyle apparel for motorsports enthusiasts. The company takes its name from the English translation of the Italian word for "edelweiss" (stelle alpine). When translated into English, stelle alpine literally means "Alpine stars".   Founded in 1963 by Sante Mazzarolo in Asolo, Veneto. The company started out making hiking and ski boots, but quickly focused on making boots primarily for motocross racing. In the 1990s, the company branched out into manufacturing all types of protective and technical gear ranging from gloves and jackets to full leather suits. Today they have offices in Los Angeles as well as the original headquarters/factory and main research & development labs remaining in Northern Italy. The company today is headed by Sante's son, Gabriele Mazzarolo.  Their claim to fame is the Tech 8 boots that have been worn on the feet of some of the best motocross and supercross racers. Alpinestars has recently branched out into other sports and now have leather gear for superbike and GP riders, driving shoes and flame retardant gear for race car drivers, as well as casual clothing.   Alpinestars riding gear is generally less expensive than its other Italian competitors, such as Dainese and SIDI.
Sponsorship

The list of sponsored racers and athletes include:

• MotoGP: Toni Elías, Carlos Checa, Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden, John Hopkins, Casey Stoner, Kenny Roberts, Jr.
• World Superbike: Troy Corser, Noriyuki Haga, Karl Muggeridge
• Motocross/Supercross: Ben Townley, Chad Reed, Eric Sorby, Joe Oehloff, Kyle Cunningham, Nathan Ramsey, Mike Alessi, Kelly Smith, Jeff Gibson, Davi Millsaps, Brock Sellards, Darcy Lange, Jason Lawrence, Justin Brayton, Michael Byrne, Branden Jesseman, David Vuillemin, Jeff Alessi, Justin Keeney, Michael Lapagila, Chris Gosselaar, Grant Langston, Josh Hansen, Martin Davalos, Paul Carpenter, Richie Owens, Matthew Goerke, Joshua Hill, Ivan Tedesco, and Christophe Pourcel.
• World Rally Championship (WRC): The Late Colin McRae.
• Formula 1: Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli
• FIA GT: JetAlliance Racing (The Whole JetAlliance Racing Team use Alpinestars racing suits), Philipp Peter.
• NASCAR: Dale Jr., Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Casey Mears.
• Rally America Championship: Travis Pastrana.
• Indy Racing League: Danica Patrick, and Enrique Bernoldi.
• BMX: Ryan Guettler, Chad Kagy, Kevin Kiraly, and Ben Snowden.
• Surfing/Wake boarding: Sunny Garcia, Makua Rothman, Chino Sue-a-Quan, and Jeff Weatherall
• Mountain Bike: Greg Minnaar and Matti Lehikoinen
• Snow Boarding: Chanelle Sladics.

Founded in 1938, Columbia Sportswear Company™ has grown from a small family-owned hat distributorship to one of the world's largest outerwear brands and the leading seller of skiwear in the United States. In 2006, the Company reported record net sales of nearly $1.29 billion. Columbia's extensive product line includes a wide variety of outerwear, sportswear, rugged footwear and accessories. We are renowned for developing innovative products that are functional, stylish and offer great value.   At the head of our company are 83 year-old matriarch Gert Boyle, Chairman of the Board, and her son, Tim Boyle, President and Chief Executive Officer. Columbia's history began in 1937 when Gert's parents, Paul and Marie Lamfrom, fled Germany and settled in Portland, Oregon. They bought a small hat distributorship and named it Columbia Hat Company, after the river bordering the city. Frustrated by poor deliveries from suppliers, the Lamfroms decided to start manufacturing products themselves, and expanded the line to include outerwear, fishing vests, and shirts.  In 1948, Gert married college sweetheart Neal Boyle, who joined the family business and later took the helm of the growing company. In 1970, Neal suddenly died of a heart attack. He left behind three children, an expanding company leaning heavily on bank loans, and a wife who didn't have any business experience. The day after Neal's funeral, the phones at Columbia were ringing off the hook with salesmen and vendors who assumed the company was going out of business. Then the bank called. They were quite concerned when they found out that a housewife was going to take control of the company. They summoned Gert in for a meeting, during which she somehow managed to buy herself a little time. She pledged Columbia's building as collateral for loans, appeasing the bankers. She also trimmed the company a bit and Tim started hitting the trade shows. After a few years, profits went up.  Investing in the Essentials: Product InnovationColumbia is known as a product innovator and has an unparalleled reputation for quality and value. These basic principles guide Columbia through the creation of inventive and highly popular designs, including our famous Interchange System™. We developed this revolutionary concept in 1982 and it has since propelled Columbia to the forefront of the outerwear industry. Our first Interchange jackets were made for hunting and featured a weatherproof outershell and an insulating inner jacket that could be worn together or separately, so that each parka was really three or four garments in one. This product was so popular that we applied the same concept to a ski parka and called it the Bugaboo™, which became one of the best-selling ski jackets in history. In 1991, we introduced our Omni-Tech®-branded line of products, which feature waterproof breathable fabric.  Columbia is now one of the world’s largest providers of waterproof breathable performance products designed for authentic outdoor adventures.   My Mother, a Super Model?: Marketing StrategiesThat is a polite version of Tim's response when our local ad agency — Borders, Perrin & Norrander — proposed that Gert should star in Columbia's ads. Before 1984, our campaign featured the unparalleled engineering of our products. The creative team at BP&N argued that with so much competition, we had to distinguish ourselves in some way, and how many other companies are run by a mother and her son?   In Columbia's ongoing campaign, Mother Boyle is shown as the tyrant who makes sure that each of our products can stand up to her tough standards and Oregon's legendary bad weather. With print, radio and TV ads appearing everywhere from MTV to GQ magazine, Gert's "Tough Mother" persona has turned her into an international celebrity. And while our distinctly American humor may have to be tailored to fit some foreign markets, our message that "mom's looking out for you" is understood by everyone.  Strategies Spreading the Warmth: Community Involvement.  As Columbia Sportswear has grown, so has our commitment to serving our expanding community. Locally and throughout the world, Columbia provides support to organizations that specialize in human assistance, conservation, the environment, the arts and education. Our Rethreads program provides garments that are returned or slightly flawed, but still wearable, to people in need throughout the United States. We are a member of the Conservation Alliance, a group of specialty outdoor businesses that has become a powerful source of grass roots conservation and environmental funding. Columbia employees also make a difference through a volunteer program that organizes groups of employees for causes like SMART (Start Making A Reader Today), the American Hiking Society, and the American Heart Association.Now We're Everywhere: Global Presence.  Today Columbia products are available through more than 13,000 retailers in 72 countries, from Argentina, to New Zealand, to Korea. We own and operate sales offices in North America, Europe and Asia, and have wholly owned subsidiaries in Canada and Japan. Our family of brands has grown to include Montrail, Mountain Hardwear, Pacific Trail, and Sorel. While our corporate headquarters and domestic distribution center (European Distribution Center in Cambrai, France) remain in Portland, Oregon, we employ more than 2,700 people around the world.   Team Columbia will make its debut on the starting lines of the 2008 Tour de France on July 5. Columbia Sportswear shares the same passion for the outdoors as cyclists and cycling fans who love to get outside, stay outside and just go.   Team Columbia – formerly known as Team High Road – consists of 42 men and women from 17 different nations all united in reaching for the same goal. Watch as they embrace the challenge, race toward the finish and enjoy one of the world’s most inspiring outdoor adventures at the 95th Tour de France.  Columbia Sportswear is a proud sponsor of Team Columbia because we enthusiastically embrace active outdoor recreation and the team’s commitment to excellence matches Columbia’s reputation for technical innovation. Racers demand peak performance from their specialized gear, and avid fans should expect nothing less from the clothes they wear during their outdoor adventures.  Spectators need all-day protection from the blistering alpine sun. Columbia offers Omni-Shade™ apparel with ultraviolet protection factor (UPF) recommended by The Skin Cancer Foundation. When the going gets wet, Omni-Tech™ waterproof breathable products keep spectators protected from the elements – whether watching a time trial or hiking the trails.  

HELLY HANSEN: Helly Hansen is a producer of textiles and special gear for sports and work on the ocean and in the mountains, headquartered in Moss, Norway. Today, the brand is still recognized for its foul-weather fishing gear and can be seen both on television (Deadliest Catch) and in movies (The Perfect Storm), but has become synonymous with all levels of industrial workwear, survival and rescue, and performance outerwear. On the consumer side, Helly Hansen has a strong following in both the sailing and snowsports communities, as well as producing apparel and footwear for casual and general active use.  History.  Helly Juell Hansen had been at sea since the age of 15; in 1877, at the age of 35, he and his wife Maren Margarethe began producing oilskin jackets, trousers, sou'westers and tarpaulins, made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil. Over the first five years they sold ca. 10,000 pieces.   In 1878 the company won a diploma for excellence at the Paris Expo, and began exporting its products.   After Helly Juell Hansen's death in 1914, company leadership passed on to his son Leiv Helly Hansen, an experienced merchant.   In the 1920s a new fabric, which Helly Hansen called Linox, was developed. The surface was glossy and attractive – and, best of all, non-sticky. Over the next 30 years the name Linox would transfer to a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) application.   In 1931 another new fabric, Lin-O-Let, was launched. Very thin and light, it could be made in many colors and was used in waterproof leisure and outdoor clothing for women and children.  Breakthrough product development.   A breakthrough for the brand came in 1949 when Helox was developed. This very thin sheet of translucent PVC plastic sewn into waterproof coats and hats became the must-have item. As many as 30,000 Helox coats were produced each month. Plarex, a heavier-duty version of Helox, backed by fabric, was developed for workwear, creating durable, waterproof clothing for industry.   The breakthrough for the outdoor and workwear markets was Fibrepile. This new insulation layer was warm, lightweight and fast-drying, ideal for wearing under waterproofs. It was brought to prominence by Swedish lumbermen, who discovered that it offered extraordinary insulation against the cold, and ventilated well during hard, physical work in the forest. It even protected against snow and light rain, staying extremely durable and warm after many washes.   LIFA.   The layering story was completed in the 1970s, with the development of LIFA. The Italian researchers that discovered how to spin yarn from polypropylene fibre were rewarded with the Nobel Prize in 1963. This wonder-fiber, used in LIFA, kept the skin dry and warm by pushing moisture away from the body, making it the ideal base-layer fabric for outdoor and workwear use. It was the birth of the 3-layer Systems of Dress with LIFA close to the body, Fibrepile as an insulation layer, and rainwear for protection.   North Sea oil exploration.   As the oil exploration industry kicked into gear during the seventies, the company developed survival suits for offshore workers. The tradition for making clothes for harsh conditions stood them in good stead and quality of design and manufacture were praised worldwide. As design awards for innovation and export rained in, work continued on another dream. In 1980 the company's own breathable, waterproof fabric system – called Helly Tech – was launched.    The technology behind the clothing.  Helly Tech garments use both hydrophilic and microporous technology. Hydrophilic garments have water-loving molecular chains which pass water vapor to the outside. Microporous garments have tiny pores that allow water vapor to pass out of the fabric without letting rain droplets in. This created clothing that breathed, helping the wearer stay warm and dry.   The evolution of breathable, waterproof jackets had a profound effect on the outdoor industry. Now everyone who participated in high-activity sport could expect their clothing to work with them, not against them. It was a major catalyst. From its roots in providing sturdy, waterproof clothing for fisherman, Helly Hansen now designed technical garments – base, insulation and protective layers. The company's survival gear has recently seen technological advances for the offshore oil rig community that has also been used in foul weather.  Company takeovers.   Investcorp acquired Helly Hansen in 1997.  In October 2006, Investcorp sold its interest in Helly Hansen to Altor Equity Partners, "A private equity firm focusing on investments in companies based in the Nordic region."   Helly Hansen as streetwear.   Helly Hansen clothing developed a large following amongst the British working class urban youth in the late 1990s. The tough, hardwearing jackets found an unlikely brand appeal for "scally" urban youth in the north of England. Cold winter nights and the new range of designs were attractive to youths who spent cold nights outdoors. The brand developed a mass appeal and is now sold in sports shops, far wide of the hiking and specialised clothing shops of before.