Descente
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |
 Headquarters in Tennōji-ku, Osaka | |
Native name | 株式会社デサント |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public K.K. |
| TYO: 8114 | |
| ISIN | JP3548800006 |
| Industry | Apparel |
| Founded | (February 1935) |
| Founder | Takeo Ishimoto |
| Headquarters | Dogashiba, , Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Shuichi Koseki (President)[1] |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  JPY 123.1 billion (FY 2014)
(US$ 1.1 billion) (FY 2014) |
| JPY 6.5 billion (FY 2014)
(US$ 59 million) (FY 2014) | |
Number of employees | 1,839 (as of March 31, 2015) |
| Website | descente.co.jp |
| Footnotes / references [2][3][4] | |
Descente Ltd. (株式会社デサント, Kabushiki-gaisha Desanto) is a Japanese sports clothing and accessories company,[5] first formed in 1935, when Takeo Ishimoto started the company in Osaka as Ishimoto Shoten. The company logo depicts 3 basic skiing techniques—traverse, schuss and side-slip.[6] Descente owns a portfolio of 16 in-house, purchased and licensed brands, among them Descente, Shiseist, Arena (in primarily Japan and the East Asia), Marmot and Srixon.[7]
The forerunner of the company, a men's retail store called Ishimoto Shoten, was founded in 1935. It started developing skiwear in 1954, and registered the Descente trademark in 1961. The "Demopants" ski pants style was launched in 1974, followed in 1979 by the "Magic Suit".[8] A wearable heating system called the "Mobile Thermo" jacket was introduced in 1998.
In 2002, the company collaborated with Academy Award-winner art director and costume designer Eiko Ishioka in creating the Vortex suits and uniforms, used by the Japanese, Swiss, Spanish and Canadian teams competing in the 2002 Winter Olympics.[9][10] Other developments since 2000 have included the Mizusawa Down range, the E-liner under-suit for ski and speed skating use, the ACXEL range of support bands and in 2012, Genome high performance compression wear.
The company won an ISPO Gold Medal for its ALLTERRAIN Transform Jacket in 2013.[11]
