Under Armour

Company Profile

Under Armour today sells performance apparel, footwear and accessories for men, women and youth through wholesale partners, its own brand and factory stores and its website, built around fabric platforms such as HeatGear, ColdGear and Armour Fleece and footwear lines such as HOVR. Founder Kevin Plank returned as chief executive in 2024 with a plan to refocus the brand on the performance products that made it. The shop box on this page covers Under Armour gear, which both marketplaces carry.

Founder Kevin A. Plank, previously a special teams captain of the University of Maryland football team, was tired of repeatedly changing the cotton T-shirt under his jersey as it became wet and heavy during games. He set out to develop a next-generation shirt that would remain drier and lighter - and founded Under Armour in 1996, the originator of performance apparel: gear engineered to keep athletes cool, dry and light throughout a game, practice or workout.

HeatGear, ColdGear and Beyond

The program behind the technology is simple to state: wear HeatGear when it is hot, ColdGear when it is cold, and AllSeasonGear between the extremes. From that base-layer start, the assortment grew across men's, women's and youth apparel, and into performance footwear - the first line of trainers, the New Prototype Performance Trainers, launched in May 2008. Every Under Armour product is built around the same promise: technically advanced construction, exclusive moisture management and proven innovation, so that the product is doing something for the athlete wearing it.

A short history note: the company that started in 1996 with one compression shirt sold out of a car trunk and a grandmother's Washington, D.C. basement went public in 2005, became a fixture of American team sports, and in 2024 welcomed founder Kevin Plank back as chief executive to refocus the brand on its performance roots.

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