ACTIVE AND GREEN: About eight months after acquiring Unless, the all plant-based, plastic-free, regenerative fashion brand, Under Armour has taken to Milan Design Week to unveil the first cobranded sportswear collection.
Founded and led by industry veteran Eric Liedtke, who boasts 26 years at rival sportswear giant Adidas, Unless bills itself as an apparel and footwear brand committed to returning harmless goods to the environment and promoting a plastic-free future by using all plant-based materials.
You May Also Like
Related Articles
As part of the acquisition deal, Liedtke joined Under Armour as its executive vice president of brand strategy, helping the company scale up its sustainability credentials.
“Plastics are wonderful. They provide durability, they provide flexibility, they provide breathability.…The problem with them is they’re forever. They never go away. So we have to find a better way,” said Liedtke, sharing facts on how plastics are impacting human health care and Earth’s ecosystems.
“Regenerative [fashion] means you create value every step of the way. Regenerative means you make stuff that’s not harmful. You make stuff from natural materials to go harmlessly away at the end of its life.…So we’re actually starting with the end in mind,” he offered.
The Under Armour x Unless regenerative collection marks the first collaboration between the two brands and includes menswear and womenswear designed for an active lifestyle, such as hoodies, T-shirts and shorts bearing eco-slogans such as “protect this earth” and pixelated flowers.
“What’s in front of you right now is what really moved and compelled me to get engaged,” said Kevin Plank, Under Armour founder, president and chief executive officer, pointing to the installation showcasing the Under Armour x Unless collection and exhibitions on materials employed. “Under Armour has always been on the cutting edge…of innovation when it comes to material science…the vision here was to support Eric in this concept of imagining to actually leave a better planet behind and do it in a sustainable way,” he said.
“We’ve embarked on this journey, and I want to applaud Eric for taking this lead, really grabbing the baton of this.…I knew what was important about the Unless initiative, which is what compelled me, because when I think about being a public company, it’s completely in line with what it means to be a sustainable company. It’s about reducing waste, reducing footprint, being as efficient as possible, and so we want to be great stewards for the environment, for the world. We’re just getting started in doing that, and we’re thrilled to have this partnership,” Plank said.
The cobranded collection is priced between $30 and $160 and will debut exclusively at the Under Armour Brand House in Baltimore at the end of April.