From a press release issued by Fairchild Sports:

Fairchild Sports (formerly Intersport Fashions West, Inc.), the exclusive North American distributor of Held gloves and the manufacturer, Held GmbH of Burgberg, Germany is issuing this news release to set the record straight on claims of poor quality of Held product reportedly being made by the former Held distributor.

The Held product line is renowned as the world’s highest quality glove collection, with material selection, manufacturing standards and individual inspection to the highest of Held’s German specifications. For the past 8 years, including 6 years prior to Fairchild Sports/IFW becoming the distributor, Held gloves have been manufactured in the same Held-owned factories in Hungary or associate factories in Pakistan and China. Material sourcing and final inspection is done in the Held facilities in Burgberg, Germany as it has always been.

According to hearsay, the Held gloves were previously manufactured in Germany when the distributor previous to Fairchild Sports/IFW was involved and now the production has been moved to substandard factories in Asia, with a drop in quality. There is no truth whatsoever to these rumors. The only manufacturing Held has ever done in Germany is custom-sizing gloves, which Fairchild Sports/IFW does not offer. If the former distributor had imported custom-sized Held gloves, they could make the claim of German origin, but not on any regular production glove.

For more information on Held product, dealers can visit www.held-usa.com or call the Fairchild Sports/IFW Customer Service Department at (888)311-5399.