The recently concluded Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas, Nevada had an entire hall dedicated to aftermarket wheels, yet Giovanna Wheels and its cadre of supercars wearing the company’s products stood out of the pack.

“Our strategy of providing high-end

wheels to high value cars has been strategic. Diko was the first one to have

28s, for instance, brought to SEMA you know. That was always his thing, he was

always bringing the next biggest and baddest thing,” said Micah Cree of Giovanna

Wheels.

The Diko Cree spoke of is Diko Sulahian, president and founder of California based WTW Corporation, the parent company of Giovanna Wheels. Since 1997 they have been setting trends producing wheels for luxury, sports and supercars.

“The reason people all started going

with black wheels is because he had it here at SEMA first,” Cree explained.

Currently, the brand has five wheel ranges starting with the original Giovanna Wheels, Gianelle Designs, Koko Kuture, Koko Solid, and GFG Forged modular wheels. All were proudly displayed at their SEMA booth, including on a limited edition McLaren Senna, one of the most potent sports cars around. When asked on the issue of designing wheels for pinnacle brands such as Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren, to name a few, Cree expounded. “We have systems that we’ve created

over the years. We have tons of different things that we can do and find.

Obviously, we invest in the cars. We own all of the cars we do have here at the

SEMA show. We don’t borrow them. We make sure that we know the fitments best.”

Prominently displayed on each car in the booth was a sticker with the hashtag, ‘Owned not borrowed‘, a slight dig at the other wheel manufacturers at the show using supercars on loan. Not only was this a big show of confidence in Giovanna Wheels-own products, but the acknowledgement of the higher level knowledge base that comes from owning the actual vehicle. That investment is what Cree thinks sets Giovanna Wheels apart from the crowd, as they have the genuine item on which to design whatever particular wheel.

The brand isn’t interested in the lower end market, making wheels between 20 and 26 inches, only recently moving into the off-road space with their SOLID line of wheels. “It’s not quite as big as you’d see for instance on the outside section of SEMA. It’s not 30 by 16s or something ridiculous like that, but at the same time, it’s made for the normal daily driver. We do 20s to 22s for them.” As for upcoming wheel trends, Cree has this to say, “The biggest trend is the brushed translucent-like finishes and stuff like that, and other than that, going with the full face wheel this year, so I’m excited by that.”

— Article written by Nichola Beckford