Nice Brand Lab aims to double revenue of ellesse footwear in 2026

Nice Brand Lab, a division of Italian producer Nice Footwear, set up in July 2024 to manufacture and distribute sneakers and leisure footwear for proprietary and licensed brands, has ambitious plans for ellesse, a long-standing Italian sportswear brand owned by British company Pentland.

 
Nice Brand Lab (NBL) already held the license to develop, manufacture, and distribute ellesse shoes in Italy and France, and has recently inked a global partnership deal with Pentland for the brand’s footwear. In February, NBL appointed Nick Carlisle as strategic business developer for ellesse.
 
“We have comprehensively overhauled the European sales organisation. In Italy, we have switched from 13 agents to 6 macro areas, for better coverage on the ground. Our next targets are the USA, where we plan to enter with Spring/Summer 2026 via a premium e-tailer, to then open our first monobrand stores with Fall/Winter 2026-27; and the APAC region, especially Japan, Korea, China, and Indonesia,” said Carlisle, speaking to FashionNetwork.com. “In addition, we’re focusing on women’s shoes, which currently account for 40% of sales, a share we’re keen to grow to 60% by winter 2026-27. We’ll then turn to the children’s range, so far quite limited, which we’ll start to extend from the Spring/Summer 2027.”

 
A well-defined roadmap, through which NBL is aiming to double the revenue of ellesse’s footwear division, making the brand once again a member of sportswear’s elite circle: “We want to take ellesse back on court, we’re negotiating with women tennis professionals and we’ll work on developing performance footwear. By 2030, we want to become Italy’s top sportswear brand, and rank among the world’s top 10,” added Carlisle.
 
NBL is keen to revitalise ellesse’s long-standing connection with tennis, as demonstrated by the vast ellesse stand at the Pitti Uomo show, a giant replica of a tennis court including oversize rackets and balls. “For Spring/Summer 2026 we’ve presented an entirely revamped collection based on a ‘less is more’ concept, reducing SKUs to focus on our heritage,” said Carlisle.  
 

ellesse was spawned by the pioneering vision of Leonardo Servadio, who in 1959 boldly decided to mix sportswear with Italian tailoring elegance. A heritage ellesse is celebrating with next summer’s collection, designed as “a tribute to Italian style and effortless charm, on and off the court.” The Spring/Summer 2026 footwear line created by NBL features several new models characterised by a strong identity and unique design, marking a new creative direction for ellesse. The line is innovative both in terms of style, more deliberately sophisticated, and product construction, and is designed to express a more mature, distinctive vision of a sporting lifestyle.
 
One of the new collection’s stand-out items is the LS914, a signature off-court sneakers model named after the height of tennis court nets (91.4 cm): “With its bold lines, decisive volume and strong visual identity, the LS914 is a tribute to contemporary design, perfectly balanced between sport and lifestyle,” said ellesse.
 
In addition to focusing on ellesse, NBL is tapping Carlisle’s expertise to develop a new business line: “We’re putting our know-how at the disposal of brands interested in launching footwear or strengthening their position in the segment. We can offer them a comprehensive suite of services and advice, from style to production, distribution, marketing and communication,” concluded Carlisle, adding that “for the Spring/Summer 2026, we are negotiating with various interested parties, chiefly apparel brands that want to expand into footwear.”