La Martina
La Martina is an Argentine luxury sportswear and polo-equipment brand built around the culture and technical demands of polo.
Last updated August 22, 2026
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Overview
La Martina is an Argentine luxury sports and leisure brand closely associated with polo. The company was founded by Lando Simonetti, who had worked in the fashion industry in the United States before returning to Argentina in 1985. Its early business was rooted in polo equipment and leather craftsmanship, particularly saddles and riding boots made for players and horses. The brand subsequently broadened its offer to apparel and accessories, including polo shirts, shirts, caps and other leisurewear, while retaining polo as its central source of identity. The brand's proposition combines sporting performance, Argentine polo heritage and luxury positioning. Rather than treating polo solely as a fashion theme, La Martina has supplied equipment and team clothing for professional and institutional polo. Its products have been used by national teams, university teams, clubs and players, and the company has held supplier relationships with the Argentine Polo Association and the Federation of International Polo. Teamwear has included designs associated with Argentina, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil and Dubai, as well as prominent university and club teams such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Guards Polo Club, Polo de Paris and Milano Polo Club. La Martina also operates at the intersection of apparel, sporting goods and event marketing. Through Polo Management Group, another organization founded by Simonetti, the business has been involved in the management or support of international polo tournaments. The brand has sponsored or co-sponsored polo events, including the Copa de La Martina and the Maserati Centenary Polo Tour. These activities have helped La Martina use live sporting events as brand platforms while demonstrating its technical products to players and spectators. Manufacturing and sourcing have historically retained an Argentine component. The reference material states that approximately 65 percent of the materials used in the products were sourced locally in Argentina. The company's original leather and saddlery expertise remains important to its differentiation, even as the public-facing assortment expanded into lifestyle clothing and accessories. La Martina has also developed technical polo clothing and equipment, including products made for Royal Salute team members. During the 2000s, the brand expanded internationally and developed a retail presence beyond Argentina. It has had stores or distribution in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, and opened its first London store in 2015. Product launches and presentations have also taken place outside Argentina, including at polo events in Dubai. The brand's international strategy has therefore combined directly operated or branded retail, event partnerships, team-supply agreements and selective luxury positioning. La Martina's commercial history includes a period of rapid growth followed by a strategic reassessment. Reference material reports sales of approximately $1.2 million in 2000 and later sales reaching approximately $200 million during the 2000s; these figures are historical and require careful interpretation because the available material does not specify the precise fiscal periods or reporting basis. The company later refocused part of its business toward polo equipment rather than pure fashion and reorganized European operations in support of that direction. Growth subsequently moderated as the brand sought to protect its luxury image and avoid excessive dilution. La Martina is best understood as a specialist polo brand whose apparel business supports, rather than replaces, its sporting heritage.
History
La Martina developed from the professional and cultural world of Argentine polo. Its founder, Lando Simonetti, had worked in the United States fashion industry before returning to Argentina in 1985. The available reference material does not establish a precise incorporation date, but identifies this return as the starting point for the business's Argentine development. The company's first products were not conventional fashion items. It initially made leather saddles and boots intended for polo, a category in which durability, fit and practical performance are central. This foundation gave La Martina a specialist identity connected to players, horses, clubs and tournaments. The company later added shirts, caps and other apparel, converting its polo expertise into a broader sportswear and leisurewear proposition. Argentine sourcing remained part of the operating story. Reference material states that roughly 65 percent of the materials used in La Martina products were sourced locally in Argentina. The combination of leather production, polo equipment and apparel allowed the brand to present itself as both a technical supplier and a luxury lifestyle label. Its identity was reinforced by the visual and institutional structures of polo, including national colors, team insignia and tournament relationships. Simonetti also founded Polo Management Group, which managed international polo tournaments in partnership with La Martina. This created a connection between the brand's commercial activities and the events where its target customers and professional users were concentrated. La Martina became associated with supplier roles for the Argentine polo teams and the Federation of International Polo at international tournaments. It also supplied or equipped teams connected with the United Kingdom, Argentina, the United States, Brazil and Dubai, together with university teams and clubs including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Guards Polo Club, Polo de Paris and Milano Polo Club. The brand expanded beyond its original Argentine base during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. By 2000, reference material records sales of approximately $1.2 million and says that the products were available through the internet. During the 2000s, reported sales rose to approximately $200 million. Because the available source does not define the exact accounting periods or methodology, these figures should be treated as historical reported claims rather than fully comparable financial data. The period of expansion was followed by a strategic adjustment. La Martina began to place greater emphasis on polo equipment rather than pure fashion and reorganized elements of its European operations to support that focus. The change was intended to protect the brand's specialist and luxury character, although the source material says sales slowed afterward and continued to grow at approximately 20 percent. This illustrates a recurring tension in specialist luxury branding: broader fashion distribution can increase reach, but excessive expansion may weaken the scarcity and sporting credibility on which the brand is built. La Martina continued to combine product development with tournament partnerships. It produced technical polo clothing and equipment for Royal Salute team members, sponsored the Copa de La Martina and co-sponsored the Maserati Centenary Polo Tour. In 2014, it created a luxury saddle for an event held with Maserati. These initiatives used polo competition as both a testing environment and a marketing channel. International retail growth continued with the opening of La Martina's first London store in 2015. The brand also maintained stores or distribution in North America, South America and Asia, and released products at events outside Argentina, including polo events in Dubai. Its present identity, based on the available material, remains that of an active Argentine luxury polo brand spanning apparel, leather goods, technical equipment, team supply and event partnerships.
- 2015
First London store opens
[1]The brand opened its first London store as part of its international retail expansion.
- 2014
Luxury saddle developed for Maserati-linked event
[1]La Martina created a luxury saddle for an event co-sponsored with Maserati.
- 2000
Internet availability and early reported sales
[1]Reference material reports sales of approximately $1.2 million and notes that La Martina products could be purchased online.
- 1985
Founder returns to Argentina
[1]Lando Simonetti returned to his native Argentina after working in the United States fashion industry, establishing the context for La Martina's Argentine development.
Expansion into international team supply
[1]La Martina became associated with supplying national, university and club polo teams, including teams linked with Argentina, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil and Dubai.
Products and positioning
A luxury Argentine polo brand combining technical equestrian equipment, teamwear and lifestyle apparel with the heritage of international polo.
Sportswear
Polo apparel
La Martina's apparel range extends the brand's polo heritage into shirts, polo shirts, caps and leisurewear. The clothing serves both everyday luxury consumers and polo participants, with team and event versions carrying the visual identity of national associations, clubs or tournaments. The range is positioned as more than generic fashion because the company retains a technical and institutional relationship with the sport.
Polo equipment
Leather saddles and riding boots
Leather saddles and riding boots were among La Martina's original products. They reflect the company's roots in practical polo equipment and leather craftsmanship, where construction, rider comfort and durability are important. The category remains central to the brand's specialist positioning and differentiates it from lifestyle labels that use polo primarily as a visual theme.
Technical sportswear
Technical polo clothing and equipment
La Martina has produced technical clothing and equipment for polo players, including products associated with Royal Salute team members. These offerings support the company's strategy of emphasizing the functional side of polo alongside luxury apparel. The available reference material does not provide detailed specifications for the individual products.
Team sportswear
National, university and club teamwear
The brand designs polo shirts and related apparel for national teams, university teams and polo clubs. Referenced users include teams associated with Argentina, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil and Dubai, as well as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Guards Polo Club, Polo de Paris and Milano Polo Club. These relationships make teamwear a major institutional offering and a visible marketing channel.
Marketing campaigns
- Maserati Centenary Polo Tour
International
La Martina co-sponsored a polo tour with Maserati that brought together 65 players from 12 countries. The partnership connected La Martina's polo credentials with Maserati's luxury positioning and used international competition as a brand showcase.
Outcome. The event expanded La Martina's visibility through an international luxury and sporting partnership.
- Copa de La Martina
Argentina · International polo
La Martina sponsored the Copa de La Martina polo championship, linking the brand name directly with a competitive polo event and reinforcing its position as a specialist polo company.
Brand decisions
- Refocus toward polo equipmentStrategy
Background
After rapid growth and expansion into fashion, La Martina reassessed its business direction and sought to place greater emphasis on polo equipment rather than pure fashion.
Action taken
The company reorganized parts of its European operations to support a more equipment-led polo strategy and to reduce dilution of its luxury positioning.
Aftermath
Reference material says sales slowed after the change but continued to grow at approximately 20 percent. The source does not provide sufficiently precise periods or accounting definitions for a reliable financial comparison.
Recent events
- 2015
La Martina opens its first London store[1]
Other
La Martina opened its first London store as part of its international retail development, adding to its presence across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
- 2009
German authorities seize clothing over alleged La Martina hologram complaints[1]
Other
German police reportedly seized approximately 20 tons of clothing after complaints that La Martina holograms on shirts purchased through eBay had washed off. The event concerned brand-authentication and product-marking issues rather than a confirmed finding of wrongdoing by La Martina.
La Martina co-sponsors the Maserati Centenary Polo Tour[1]
Campaign
La Martina co-sponsored a Maserati centenary polo tour involving 65 players from 12 countries, extending the brand's event and luxury-partnership strategy.
Sources1 sources
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