A person lying on the floor with a basketball under their leg, wearing a maroon hoodie, black pants, and white sneakers, looking at the camera.

Built by the Culture

Fila, 2026

Reclaiming cultural legacy.
Created as an integrated brand revival concept, Built by the Culture reframes Fila not as a “trend brand,” but as a cultural artifact shaped by Black communities in Detroit, New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. The campaign honors the people who transformed Italian tenniswear into street luxury in the 80s and 90s. Instead of recreating nostalgia, the work treats history with reverence and carries it forward through contemporary athletes, artists, and cities that continue to shape culture today.

Project: Spec. Brand Campaign
Role: Art Direction, Creative Strategy, Copywriting
Credit: Solo Project

Fila lost its cultural edge by chasing trends instead of leading them. They shifted, moving from heritage luxury to fast fashion, diluting their identity. The brand needs to reclaim authority to show it still sets the tone.

Challenge

Opportunity

Fila has deep roots in the streets, courts, and communities that made it legendary. The brand could leverage this cultural authenticity to resonate with Gen Z and Millennials, turning nostalgia into relevance.

Solution

Through creative storytelling, social activations, and visuals that celebrate real communities and athletes, "Built by the Culture" positions Fila as both a heritage brand and a current cultural player.

Advertisments at bus stop featuring a young woman in casual attire sitting on a chair with a forest background, captioned 'Kangol State of Mind,' and branding for Fila with the tagline 'Built by the Culture'.

First, we return to the cities that made it matter.
Posters appear across DET, NYC, ATL, and LA, honoring the cultural pioneers. Poetic headlines and archival-inspired visuals connect the brand's heritage to the present, acknowledging the communities that built Filas' legacy.

Advertisement in a subway station featuring a person’s legs wearing white sneakers resting on a basketball, with the text 'Crafted in legacy.' and the brand logo 'FILA' at the bottom.
Inside a subway train, a digital advertisement displays a message saying 'Make Room for What's Next.' with two people standing in front of it. The train features metal handrails and windows, with overhead lighting illuminating the space.
A cyclist riding past a poster on a city street. The poster features two men in jackets, and the text 'Upward Since Day One' with the FILA logo and the tagline 'Built by the Culture'.
Advertising poster in train showing two young men, one holding a basketball, wearing casual clothing with brands Fila USA, with the text 'Next in Line' and 'Built by the Culture'.
Underground subway station with three people walking past a large black Fila advertisement featuring a man holding a boombox, wearing athletic clothing and a bucket hat, with the slogan "Precision Never Goes Out of Style".

Then, the message scales.
Large-format billboards expand the campaign across major urban corridors, featuring athletes and artists tied to the brand's history and future, reframing Fila as a symbol of heritage rather than hype. The copy remains restrained and declarative, reinforcing a simple idea: the culture already wrote the story.

An outdoor billboard displays an advertisement with two men, one sitting and one standing, against a dark background with trees. The ad reads: 'The South Spoke and the World Listened. FILA Built by the Culture.'
Billboard displaying two young men in hoodies with Fila USA logos, one in red and the other in blue, standing outdoors at sunset. The billboard has the text 'The Future Moves in Two Directions. FILA Built by the Culture.'
A snow-covered city bus stop with an advertisement for FILA. The ad features a man sitting on a small television box holding a basketball, wearing a baseball cap, grey sweatshirt, and grey sweatpants. The background of the ad is a dark outdoor scene with trees. The advertisement text reads: 'Before It Was Trending, It Was Hill. Built by the Culture.'

Finally, the narrative moves online.
An Instagram-first rollout carries the campaign through editorial imagery, athlete announcements, and product storytelling.

Content highlights the re-signing of Grant Hill and the signing of Amen and Ausar Thompson while introducing the new collection.

Each post connects past influence to future momentum, extending the campaign into the spaces where culture now lives and moves.

Smartphone displaying a website with a vintage school chair, a backpack, and sneakers, featuring the text 'Built by the Culture' and buttons for 'Discover the Collection' and sending a message.
An iPhone displaying a website with images of sneakers and vintage audio equipment on a dark surface.
A collage of five images featuring various sneakers, a person sitting on a chair with a hoodie, and a boombox, displayed against a gray background.
Three Instagram-style photo posts featuring a man in athletic wear with basketballs against a dark background.
Collection of sneaker photos displayed on a gray background, including a close-up of sneakers, stacked sneakers, and sneakers with vintage equipment.
Collage of ten male models wearing different casual sportswear outfits, including puffer jackets, hoodies, sweatshirts, joggers, and sneakers, with a dark textured background.

Heritage, refined for the present.
The collection pulls directly from Fila's archive, reinterpreting classic silhouettes inspired by the 80s and 90s styles.