American Beauty - Interview with Kevin Plank

Kevin Plank, the founder of Under Armour, would be right at home on a TED Talk stage. He could talk for hours and convince you that his brand is the best of them all—could anything be more American? That was exactly the goal of our interview: to get a kind of Plank-splaining to better understand the brand’s future intentions. We expected Kevin Plank to explain his vision like a political rally speech—with the same rhetoric, emotional charge, self-awareness, and above all, the desire to win us over. After all, Under Armour is a blend of ideas born from an American dream, a sense of redemption, and a brilliant insight destined to change the history of sports—or rather, sportswear.

And by retracing the key milestones in Under Armour’s rise through the complex sports landscape, we realized that maybe we had underestimated its impact on the sports industry. Some aspects we had simply forgotten. Other details that Plank adds are almost amusing, yet they perfectly round out the most American of stories: the most American of dreams, pursued by an entrepreneur with a single-minded vision and the determination to change the rules of the game. Kevin Plank embodies all the clichés of the successful businessman.

We meet him in Milan, on the opening day of Design Week 2025: he shows up in a vest, exuding a finance bro vibe.

Before founding Under Armour, who was Kevin Plank?

I’ve always been an entrepreneur. When I was a kid, I shoveled snow to make a little money. As soon as I got to college, I started selling unofficial band merchandise outside concert venues. At university, the rules said that as a student-athlete, you couldn’t have a traditional job—you couldn’t be employed by someone—but you could start your own business. That’s how my first real venture was born: Cupid’s Valentine, a rose delivery service. My customers were, of course, students on campus. The delivery fee was $5, but for $25 in total you got a bouquet that would have cost $75 at a florist. I sold thousands every year until my senior year. Then I used that money to start Under Armour.

How would you describe Under Armour’s growth and rise in the sports world?

Metaphorically, I always say that as a brand, Under Armour didn’t just try to grab a slice of the sportswear market—we set out to bake our own pie. We've always played by our own rules, choosing to write a new chapter in the sports industry.

How did the brand get into the world of football?

We built our success starting from American football, but as you know, today we’ve even made it into soccer. You might think, “Who would’ve thought?”—but in reality, it was all part of Under Armour’s masterplan. We define ourselves as a sport house, and to be one of the best sport houses in the world, we couldn’t ignore what I believe is the greatest sport in the world: football. Today, Under Armour’s football roster includes world-renowned athletes like Antonio Rüdiger, Achraf Hakimi, and Fermín López, just to name a few.

When I think about our first steps in football, I almost can’t believe it. Between 2006 and 2007, we were only in contact with a handful of Premier League clubs, but nothing materialized until 2012, when we announced our partnership with Tottenham Hotspur. I still remember the day I flew from New York to London to meet Daniel Levy, who was already club chairman back then.

Let’s talk about the story behind the performance shirt—how did that come to be?

I played American football and always noticed that, whether during halftime or at the end of a game, the cotton shirt worn under the uniform and pads was completely soaked with sweat. Not only did this waste time—because you had to take off the entire gear to change into a dry shirt at halftime—but the sweat also weighed the body down, seriously affecting an athlete’s performance.

That’s why athletes don’t wear cotton shirts anymore—because Under Armour changed the game by inventing the synthetic fiber performance shirt. It was a real revolution in sportswear fabrics.

Can you tell us a detail no one knows about Steph Curry signing with Under Armour?

I’ll start by saying that watching Steph Curry grow alongside Under Armour has been incredibly rewarding. There’s a fun story tied to his decision to sign with us. It’s said that, before he signed with any sportswear brand, Steph laid out three boxes: one with Nike shoes, one with adidas shoes, and one with Under Armour shoes. Then he asked his daughter Riley, who was only two at the time, to choose the pair she liked best.

Legend has it that Riley picked up the Nike and adidas shoes, looked at them carefully, and then set them aside. Finally, she picked up the Under Armour shoes and brought them to her dad. So yes, thank you Riley for helping bring Steph into the Under Armour family.