The recent death of Diego Quiles, co-founder of Kelme, has brought back to the foreground a brand that dressed Real Madrid as champion in the 1998 Champions League; to Spain at the Barcelona ’92 Olympics; or Conchita Martínez during her victory at Wimbledon, in 1994. The company suffered ups and downs in recent decades until it was acquired by the Chinese manufacturer Jinjiang Yuanxiang Garments Weaving Co, in 2014. From Mijatovic to Fernando Hierro or Raúl; to Pep Guardiola and Kiko at the Olympic Games; passing through cycling or Jordi Villacampa, the brand originally from Elche has experienced endless turbulence until today, it has returned to the showcase of normality with its presence in stores and media. It now even appears in Lefties, the brand of the Inditex group. It currently sponsors RCD Espanyol, where it has designed the commemorative t-shirt for the club’s 125th anniversary. A yellow t-shirt with black trim to be the first colors of the Catalan team. NEW YORK – CIRCA 1994: Tennis player Conchita Martinez of the Spain looks on during the women 1994 US Open Tennis Tournament at the USTA National Tennis Center in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)Focus On Sport (Getty Images)The newspaper La Veu de Catalunya published on November 26, 1900 that one of its affiliates was a fabric manufacturer and gave those kits to the club. A four-leaf clover appears in the retro-cut details, in an art nouveau style. In addition, Watford, now in the Championship, used the ‘claw’ logo this month on a special kit inspired by Elton John. It served as a tribute to the 50 years that have passed since the singer became president of the club in 1976. Behind each shirt you can read “How wonderful life is while you’re in the world”, a phrase from the song ‘Your Song’. In its farewell, the company defined Diego Quiles as a ‘visionary. Kelme was born in 1977 by the brothers Diego and José Quiles in Elche, who adapted the brand created by the footwear businessman Francisco Riquelme. With a great vision for the future, Los Quiles decided to change the original name, Quelme, to Kelme. Marketing question. More informationThe business initially began to take off as a manufacturer of clothing footwear, the great economic engine of Elche, although it soon oriented itself towards a little-exploited niche in Spain: sports footwear. At the beginning of the 80s, the culture of amateur sports began to establish itself in Spanish society, and the company was there to equip this new generation with shoes and accessories for those looking for a more active and healthy life.
The great leap towards cycling
The promotional leap also came in the 80s, when Pepe Quiles promoted the creation of a sponsored cycling team. In its beginnings, the team went from less to more, although from the beginning it had prominent names such as Vicente Belda – future team director -, Pepe Recio, key in the first Vuelta won by Pedro Delgado, or the Colombians Fabio Parra and Martín Farfán. During the 90s, Kelme established itself as the leading team of the international peloton and brought together cyclists such as Óscar Sevilla, Santiago Botero, Roberto Heras, Fernando Escartín, Rubén Plaza and Alejandro Valverde, among others. His sporting ceiling came with the victories in the general classification of the Vuelta a España by Roberto Heras (2000) and Aitor González (2002), in addition to the podiums in the Tour de France by Fabio Parra (1988) and Fernando Escartín (1999). At the beginning of that decade, Kelme also made a splash by becoming the brand that dressed the Spanish Olympic Team in the Barcelona 92 Games. Many iconic images of Spanish sport, such as Fermín Cacho’s gold, the triumphs of the women’s hockey and soccer teams, or the medals of Cacho and Peñalver, are associated with the claw logo.
European Champion with Real Madrid
Kelme, who had entered the world of football through Elche—a club from his city and of which Diego Quiles was president—took a new leap by equipping Real Madrid. The brand thus went down in history as the one that dressed the white team when they won the long-awaited seventh European Cup. That Kelme shirt has today become a highly sought-after collector’s item among fans of ‘vintage’ sportswear. In those years of expansion, figures such as Raúl González or Jordi Villacampa—who even had his own line of footwear—were the image of the brand. Kelme expanded its presence to numerous sports, from indoor soccer to athletics and tennis. Consolidated as a benchmark, the Elche firm even dared to break taboos by equipping the Hércules de Alicante, Elche’s eternal rival, in a controversial decision in the city of palm trees, but with great symbolic and media impact. At that time, several clubs in the Valencian Community, such as Levante and Villarreal, also wore Kelme.
Decline of Kelme and entry of Chinese capital
However, shortly thereafter the decline began. The investments made in Eastern Europe to lower production costs did not give the expected results and plunged the company into serious financial problems. In 2008, the Generalitat Valenciana had to intervene to avoid bankruptcy. Kelme’s assets then passed to a new company, New Millennium Sports, controlled by a venture capital fund promoted by the Generalitat and managed by Riva and García. In 2014, the Chinese manufacturer Jinjiang Yuanxiang Garments WeavingCo, with experience as a supplier to European brands such as Umbro, Kappa or Fila, entered as a savior. And in 2018 it acquired 80 percent of Kelme Sport Products, the company that managed the brand rights and its international sponsorships. These days, the company noted that Diego Quiles Navarro left an “indelible legacy and is part of our history.”