Cisalfa and Mistral, a Bellissimo Licensing Match

Since 2014, Mistral has enjoyed a fruitful and harmonious licensing agreement with Italian sports retail giant Cisalfa. Cisalfa Sport is the largest Italian retailer in the sale of apparel, footwear, and sports equipment products and the leading network in Italy in the sale of sporting and leisure items, with over 150 stores active in the most strategic locations in Italy. Over the years, Cisalfa Sport has consolidated partnerships with over 250 leading brands in the sports and lifestyle sector, including Nike, Adidas, The North Face and Puma. Additionally, it produces under license for important international brands such as Fila, Ellesse, Bear and Mistral, servicing a sporty clientele and those who aspire to related lifestyles.

Mistral, frequently recognised as the world's first original lifestyle brand, was founded around the design and manufacture of windsurfing equipment and launched in 1977 at the German-based Dusseldorf Boot (Boat) Show, where the brand was to become an instant hit mainly on account of the simultaneous release of Mistral Sportswear in the form of casual and technical wear. It proved a seminal moment in fashion history, combining lifestyle apparel to complement a sporting, recreational pursuit on and off the water.

For decades, coastal-based water sports enthusiasts, including many Italians, have embraced windsurfing along the Mediterranean coastline. This trend found its way into beach resorts and sailing schools, with Mistral apparel and accessories becoming synonymous with windsurfing, the beach, and a watersports Bohemian lifestyle. The brand's presence was felt through the late 1970s and the 1990s, with Club Mistral venues on Lake Garda and Sardinia. The brand's famous Red Dot logo, symbolic of the sun and the blue of the Mediterranean, became instantly recognisable throughout the Mediterranean.

The late Vincenzo Mancini, former CEO of Cisalfa, well known for his contribution to the retail industry and responsible for a revolution in the sports and leisure industry, together with his brother, Maurizio, opened their first shop, 'Sportland' in Tivoli near Rome in the late 1970s. They would go on to found Cisalfa in 1988 with just one point of sale. Committed to spreading the culture and values of sport across all ages and levels of competence, stores increased within a few years, first in Rome, then in the North, and then by purchasing several clothing chains. In 1995, Cisalfa became the leading Italian sports equipment and clothing group.

Both the Mancini brothers, renowned for their contributions to the retail industry, recognised the iconic aspirational connection Mistral had with coastal lifestyles and the potency of its logo. They saw the value in securing a Mistral license for their region and required categories, leading to a successful partnership with Cisalfa in 2014. This collaboration, built on a significant and super successful, proactive Licensee Agreement, has established world-class quality designs of Mistral branded apparel and accessories over the years, instilling confidence in the audience about the quality of the Mistral line.

The Mistral line by Cisalfa stands out for its unique urban style and vintage surfwear blend. This distinctive collection includes diverse products, from footwear and outerwear shells to tees, sweatshirts, bikinis, board shorts, bags, towels, and more. Each item in this line represents Mistral as a contemporary quality brand, offering a distinct style that seamlessly blends urban trends with the nostalgia of vintage surfwear, piquing the audience's interest in the product.

Products incorporate travel-related graphics, exotic worlds with floral patterns for women, waves, foliage, and postcards of exotic beaches where surfing and water sports are the protagonists. Designs follow on from research into styles and details taken from different cultures and inspirations from distant worlds, resulting in collections that create looks that mix colour and fabrics with vintage effects and testimonies of lives lived; new patterns and materials align with the needs of the consumer who needs to feel in harmony with the surrounding world and nature.

Skating, windsurfing and water sports, for which Mistral has been a leading inspiration since the 1970s, inspired the colour palette taken from many of the original graphics of the sails and former designs. The men's, women's, and children's collections are created and characterised using innovative techniques by researching fabrics, details, authentic finishes, and hand-drawn motifs. This leads to originality that reflects bold colours and a refined style suitable for the city, boardwalk or beach.