One of the largest leading brands of apparel & footwear, Under Armour, has recently announced that it will be teaming up with Virgin Galactic to design spacesuits for the first space tourists to wear in 2020. CEO Kevin Plank says the company’s latest collaboration should set the business apart from other leading athletic apparel brands like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon.
“It’s a bit of a coming-out party for what we’ve been talking about for three years, that people have a hard time getting their arms around where Under Armour truly wants to be,” Plank said in an interview after unveiling the new suits on Wednesday. “The human performance company. … We want to stand for all things innovation.”
While companies such as Nike are thriving due to their leggings and joggers that are rising in popularity as more men and women become comfortable running errands in wearing comfortable clothes, Under Armour has been criticized for their lack of participation – which has ultimately hurt its sales in North America.
Despite the backlash, Plank stated that Under Armour is staying true to its core.
“We’ve been really focused on wanting athletes to perform better to push human performance,” he said. “And I think this [collaboration] is just another example of that, underscoring … this is not just a cool logo or happens to be a trend.”
Under Armour announced on Wednesday that the spacesuits that they designed were made with technology that’s already been incorporated into its clothing and football called “HOVR.”
Under Armour has plans to push its collaboration with Virgin Galactic in a broader market, but has no set date as of now. The company’s shares are up about 14% compared to last year.
