Under Armour

Under Armour was founded on 25 September 1996 by Kevin Plank, a 24-year-old former special-teams captain of the University of Maryland football team. As a player he had grown tired of the heavy, sweat-soaked cotton T-shirts worn under his jersey, while his compression shorts stayed dry. He set out to make a shirt from synthetic fabric that would wick moisture away and keep athletes cool, and he started the business from his grandmother's basement in Washington, D.C.

Plank sold his first shirts to teams and former teammates, driving from campus to campus. By the end of 1996 the company had sold 500 HeatGear shirts, earning US$17,000, and it soon added ColdGear for cold weather and AllSeasonGear. Product placement in films and early adoption by college and professional teams gave the brand an aggressive, gridiron identity that set it apart from Nike's and adidas's broader appeal. The company moved to Baltimore, where it is still headquartered.

Under Armour went public on the Nasdaq in November 2005, and its shares doubled on the first day. Through the late 2000s and early 2010s it was one of the fastest-growing companies in American sport, expanding from apparel into footwear and signing athletes and teams across many sports. Its biggest coup was the basketball player Stephen Curry, whose signature shoes from 2015 made the brand a serious contender in basketball; in 2020 it launched the Curry Brand. It also sponsored universities, including a record deal with UCLA in 2016, and opened a flagship in the former FAO Schwarz building on New York's Fifth Avenue.

The growth did not last. From 2016 sales slowed as the brand struggled to translate its performance image into lifestyle fashion, department stores weakened and rivals regained ground. The company disclosed an investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission into its accounting, which it settled in 2021, and went through several restructurings. Plank stepped down as chief executive in 2020 in favour of Patrik Frisk, who was followed by Stephanie Linnartz in 2023.

In April 2024 Plank returned as chief executive to lead another turnaround, focusing the brand on its sporting roots. Three decades after a basement in Washington, Under Armour remains defined by the idea that began it: a better shirt to wear under the uniform.