TIME MACHINE: 1982

Today, our Time Machine wizzes us back to 1982 – a year that couldn’t be more pop! In 1982, Scott E. Fahlman, a Research Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, proposed a method for expressing moods in online with through the symbols.   (‘just kidding!’) and  (‘I’m unhappy’). Suffice to say, Fahlman is today known as pioneer of emojis. On top, on November 30th, Michael Jackson released ‘Thriller’. With over 100 million copies sold, it’s still the most successful album of all time.  

In 1982 FILA entered one of the most important chapters in its history: a decade of sporting triumphs, exceptional sponsorships, and iconic designs. A standout example is the Terrinda jacket – a shining symbol of 1980s activewear style. The Terrinda is a long-sleeved tracksuit jacket featuring three thin stripes – one across the chest. With its bright colour blocking, it came to define the 1980s’ epoch. Athletes including Björn Borg loved it, as did George Michael and Andrew Ridgley, of the pop group Wham! In the early 1980s, they wore Terrinda tracksuits on the TV show Top of the Pops, and all throughout their FILA-sponsored Club Fantastic tour in 1983. In 2009, the Terrinda also starred in the film The Firm, by Nick Love. It was worn by ‘the casuals’, – a feisty gang of football fanatics who loved sportwear and loved to get into a fight. (You can read more about that here.). Jumping to 2023-24, the Terrinda tracksuit was exhibited at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris as part of Mode et sport, d’un podium à l’autre. Curated by Sophie Lemahieu, this exhibition showed the evolution of sporty style, from the playing field to the catwalks using loans from museums of international importance.

Pivoting back to 1982, this was also a turning point for AQUA TIME, the swimwear line by FILA. Inspired by a work by the Italo-Argentine artist Lucio Fontana called Spatial Concepts, FILA designer Pierluigi Rolando conceived a new one-piece swimming costume. In either the one or two-strap version, it features designs of soft transversal lines, suggesting the movement of the sea. In 2021 the ‘Fontana’ swimwear designs enraptured the British stylist Katie Grand, who reinterpreted them for FILA’s 110th Anniversary Collection.

In 1982, the former US tennis player Andy Roddick, was born.