History

1935 Feb Ishimoto Shoten is established by the late Chairman Takeo Ishimoto.
1953   Ishimoto Shoten develops cream-colored cotton baseball uniforms and track pants with anti-shrinking treatment and a wool-like texture.
1954   Full-scale entry into the skiwear field.
1958 Feb Ishimoto Shoten becomes a joint stock corporation, focusing on the production and sales of sportswear.
1961 Sep Company name changed to Descente, Ltd.
1962 Feb Tokyo Sales Office opens.
1964 Oct Descente collaborates with Itochu Corp. Toyobo Co., Ltd., and Munsingwear Corp. in the U.S. as the exclusive distributor of Munsingwear golf wear, which started off the“chest logo” fashion trend.
1970 Apr Descente begins production and sales of Adidas competition sportswear in a tie-up with the West German sportswear maker(collaboration terminated in 1998).
1973 Apr Current Headquarters building in Tennoji Ward, Osaka, is completed.
Sep Descente begins sales of “Demopan”, an innovative new style of ski pants.
1975 Oct Descente begins production and sales of “NCAA” sportswear in a partnership with the National College Athletic Association(NCAA) in the U.S. (partnership terminated in 2002).
1976 Sep Descente begins production and sales of “Arena” swimwear under license from the Arena Dept. of Adidas France.
1977 Jan Descente is chosen to supply uniforms to the Pittsburgh Pirates, a Major League Baseball team.
Mar Descente is listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Stock Exchange.
1978 Mar Descente begins sales of the Italian sportswear brand Fila(terminated in 1985).
Sep Descente sponsors eight-nation athletic meet in Tokyo(Descente Track and Field), the first major athletic event to feature a sponsor's name.
1979 Apr Ishimoto Memorial Descente Sports Science Foundation is established.
Jul Descente France is established in Paris (closed in 1985).
Aug Descente America (currently Descente North America) is established in New York.
Sep The first FINA Cup (Descente Swimming World Cup) is held.
1980 Jan Descente's listing changed to the First Section of the Osaka Stock Exchange.
Feb Eric Heiden, wearing a Descente racesuit, wins five gold medals in speed skating at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics.
Mar Descente is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Nov Production and sales of the Le Coq Sportif brand of athletic wear begins in collaboration with Le Coq in France.
1981 Jan Descente begins production and sales of Cerruti 1881 Sport products under license from Cerruti 1881 Sport in Italy (terminated in 2002)
1982 Feb Descente begins production and sales of Courreges Sports Futur under license from Andre Courreges.
1983 Aug Descente sponsors the International Invitational Swim Meet (Descente Swim Meet), which later became the Pan-Pacific Swimming Championships.
1984 Feb Descente begins production and sales of dunhill Sport products under license from Dunhill in the UK.
Dec Descente acquires the trademark for the Munsingwear Brand.
1985 Mar Descente displays products at the Science of Health & Sports exhibit at Science Fair Tsukuba '85.
1987 Feb Descente begins sales of “Huitieme Sports Studio,”a lifestyle sports brand for women.
1988 Feb At the Calgary Winter Olympics, Descente opens the “Igloo” Pavilion for Olympic athletes, many of whom use Descente products, including the new fabric Solar α.
1990 Dec Descente acquires the Arena and Le Coq Sportif trademarks in Japan and Southeast Asia.
1991 Sep Descente begins sales of the outdoor brand Whole Earth.
1992 Feb Descente supplies apparel to athletes and delegates from various countries at the Albertville Winter Olympics.
Apr Descente sponsors the first Descente Classic Munsingwear Cup.
Jul Descente supplies official training wear for the Japanese national team at the Barcelona Olympics, as well as sportswear for the Japanese national men's swimming team.
1993 May With the inauguration of J-League, Japan's professional soccer league, Descente supplies Adidas sportswear to Gamba Osaka and Yokohama Marinos, and Le Coq Sportif products to Nagoya Grampus Eight.
1994 Feb Descente supplies competition and training wear to teams from Japan and other countries at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics.
Dec Beijing Descente Co., Ltd. is established in Beijing.
1996 Sep Descente begins sales of the A7 snowboard brand.
1997 Oct Nautica Japan Ltd. is established in a joint venture with Itochu Corp. (collaboration dissolved in 2000; sales rights transferred to Descente. Terminated in 2007)
Dec Descente and Matsushita Electrical Industries Ltd. jointly develop and commercialize Mobile Thermo, the world's first sportswear to use a catalytic heating system.
1998 Jan Construction of new Tokyo Branch in Mejiro, Tokyo, is completed.
Feb Club Descente locations are opened in Hakuba, Nagano, and Shiga as service centers for the Nagano Winter Olympics, where Descente supplies apparel to several national teams.
Descente supplies DIMPLEX low air resistance skiwear to Swiss and Canadian national teams.
Kazuyoshi Funaki, an employee of Descente's Ski Department, captures three medals in ski-jumping events.
Jul Descente acquires the trademark for the soccer brand Umbro in Japan.
1999 Jan Descente and the Japan Racing Association jointly develop a protective vest for jockeys.
2000 Sep Club Descente is established as a service center for the Sydney Olympics. Descente supplies official training wear, caps, and shoes to Japan's national team, including swimwear for the national swimming team.
Dec Descente Korea, Ltd. is established in Seoul.
2001 Apr Arena announces the new Spiral line of swimwear.
Jul The 9th World Swimming Championships 2001 is held in Fukuoka, with Descente serving as an official sponsor.
Descent supplies Spiral swimwear as well as the official uniform of the Japanese national team.
2002 Jan At the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Descente supplies various teams with innovative apparel designed by Eiko Ishioka.
Mar Mila Schon Sports, a new golf wear brand, is launched.
Jun Descente Apparel, Ltd. acquires ISO 14001 certification.
2003 Jan Shanghai Descente Trading Co., Ltd. is established in Shanghai.
Mar The Town & Country snowboard brand is launched (terminated in 2007), along with two other new brands, Cutter and Buck golf wear and Lanvin Sport.
Oct Descente launches the outdoor brand Marmot.
Jiangsu Descente Co, Ltd. is established in China (collaboration dissolved in 2003).
Nov Hong Kong Descente Trading, Ltd. is established.
2004 Feb Le Coq Sportif (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. is established in China.
Apr Arena launches “aile-bleue” swimwear, designed using the theme of the kingfisher.
May Shanghai Munsingwear Golf Technology Consulting Co., Ltd. is established.
Jun Descente participates in the “Daito Dynamic Project,” initiated by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to support the development of the health service industry.
Jul Descente develops “Video Proof” material to prevent swimwear from appearing transparent when filmed with infrared cameras.
Descente supplies official apparel, polo shirts, and socks to Japanese national teams at the Athens Olympics.
Arena sportswear is supplied to the Japanese swimming and triathlon teams.
Descente sportswear is supplied to the Russian women's volleyball team.
Ai Shibata wins the gold medal in the women's 800m freestyle in Athens wearing Arena's “aile-bleue” swimwear.
Sep Le Coq Sportif begins development and sales of clothing and shoes for nurses.
Descente announces the “Le Coq Sportif Revolution,” a joint project with Bunka Fashion College.
Oct Descente announces cut-resistant underwear for short track speed skaters.
Dec Descente supplies products to Japanese national teams at the 22nd Winter Universiad in Innsbruck, Austria.
2005 Feb Descente announces the new golf brand Cresson (terminated in 2008).
Specially treated fitness wear and swimwear jointly developed by Phiten Co., Ltd. and Descente's Huitieme Sports Studio are introduced.
May Descente announces the new tennis brand Babolat.
Descente Health Management Research Center is established for the development of preventive and daily health care services.
Jul Descente serves as official supplier of sportswear, bags, caps, and footwear for the Japanese national team at the Macao
2005 4th East Asia Games.
Aug Descente announces joint development of athletic footwear with the French company Michelin.
Sep Descente announces new pants for horse jockeys.
Descente announces the Arena Creation Project in collaboration with Bunka Fashion College.
Nov Descente publishes a Keep the Earth Beautiful declaration as a part of corporate environmental policy.
2006 Feb Descente serves as official supplier of sportswear to Japanese athletes competing at the Turin Olympics, providing warm-up suits, training suits, caps, gloves, socks, and mufflers. Also serves as official supplier of sportswear to Swiss and Spanish athletes, including racing and warm-up suits for alpine teams. Also supplies racing and warm-up suits to Canadian speed-skating team.
Club Descente service center opened during the Turin Olympics.
Shizuka Arakawa, a contracted JOC Symbol Athlete, captures the only gold medal taken by a Japanese athlete at Turin, in the women's figure skating competition.
Umbro announces worldwide release of the England Away Kit.
Mar Descente announces Compass 50 mid-term management plan. Descente announces that F1 driver Takuma Sato has been signed as an advisor. Descente becomes official supplier of sportswear to professional cycling Team CSC.
Shanghai Munsingwear Golf Club opens in Shanghai, China (collaboration dissolved in 2008).
Apr Descente announces the new casual sports brand: "penguin by Munsingwear."
Jul Children in seven cities throughout Japan learn to enjoy sports at the Healthy Kids Sports Workshop.
Sep Descente announces a new brand of golfing apparel: "nuni." (terminated in 2008).
Descente enters the health business, establishing a tie-in as well as investing in the bathing "Ishi-no-yu."
Oct Descente announces a new brand of yoga apparel: "lululemon athletica" (terminated in 2008).
Opening of the fitness club Mejiro Tsubaki-no-saka Studio.
Descente supplies Japanese athletes competing in the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 with windbreakers and Boston sports.
Descente enters an agreement to supply arena brand swimwear to China's National Physical Education Bureau.
Descente announces a new brand of women's undergarments: "shiseist."
Nov Descente contracts with the Japan Volleyball Association as an official supplier of beach volleyball apparel.
Descente announces a dance brand Freddy.
2007 Feb Descente concludes a contract to serve as an official partner of the FIVB for beach volleyball.
Mar Worldwide release of Umbro’s England Home Kit.
Descente announces a new brand of women’s wear designed for travel: "L,oiseau." (terminated in 2008).
Aug DESCENTE serves as official supplier of sportswear, bags, and footwear to the Japanese national team at the 24th Universiade (2007, Bangkok).
Oct DESCENTE launches protective clothing for fire-fighters based on skiwear technology.
Nov DESCENTE concludes a comprehensive contract with the Chinese Ski Association’s national aerial ski team and national instructor team.
2008 Jan DESCENTE launches the “Shin_rev” line of the Arena swimwear brand, developed around the concept of central body alignment.
Mar Simultaneous worldwide sales launch of England soccer team away kit under the Umbro brand.
May The Munsingwear Open KSB Cup 2008 is held (since 1992).
As the official supplier to the Beach Volleyball World Tour, the Descente brand provides wear for players and officials.
Aug Descente brand supplies official wear (T-shirts and shorts) to the Japanese team at the Beijing Olympics.
The “Club Descente, ” the service center, is set up onsite during the Olympic games.
The Freddy brand supplies outerwear to the Japanese rhythmic gymnastics team at the Beijing Olympics.
Sep The Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic is held (since 2000).
Marketing launch of “Heat Navi,” a newly developed heat-retaining thermal material that makes efficient use of sunlight.
2009 Jan Descente brand supplies sweaters, caps, and bags to the Japanese national team at the 24th Universiade (Harbin, 2009).
Feb Descente brand supplies speedskate wear and gloves to the Japanese national team at the 2009 Special Winter Olympics in Idaho.
Mar Simultaneous international sales launch of the England soccer team uniform by the Umbro brand.
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