Under Armour has to find a fashion designer to design

Under Armour has taken a new step. This sportswear brand, which has long been seen as a challenger to Nike and Adidas, recently announced the launch of a new high-end product line called Under Armour Sportswear (UAS). New products will be released in the fall.

Although the price range has not yet been announced, Tim Coppens, the designer who sought out the new product line from Under Armour, has basically been determined. Coppens is a fashion designer who owns the same name in New York. He was born in Belgium and graduated from the Royal Antwerp School of Design in 1998. He later served as creative director in Ralph Lauren's Performance series and has extensive experience in designing luxury sportswear. Tim Coppens is also among the 2015 men's designers nominated by the American Fashion Designers Association. He also does women's wear, style is sports and leisure into street fashion.

The joining of Coppens as Chief Creative Officer means that Under Armour will move from a purely professional sportswear brand to a more lifestyle-conscious lifestyle brand. Under Armour said in the statement that the new product line will "consider the comfort of casual sportswear and the innovative and functional reliability."

Coppens also stated: “The brand is eager for something new, a turning point, and it has ambitions for longer, faster and more direct products and modern fashion. Under Armour is in a special position to define the sports style of the US East Coast. It has Responsibility is fully armed to enter the lifestyle market.”

Of course, lifestyle brands are no longer a strange concept, and transition is more likely to be forced by competition. The sportswear market, including Nike, Adidas and even the yoga wear brand Lululemon, has ushered in a new era. The brands are all developing full apparel categories, and in order not to lose the original attributes of sports, they chose “sports and leisure”. This binary combination.

Cakes that make big new markets sometimes need competitive products. According to the research report of NPD Group, the market capacity of sports and leisure has increased by 16% last year, and the sales volume has reached 43.6 billion US dollars. For the US market, if the sportswear is removed, the US apparel market is down 2% in sales.

The sportswear market, which is in a rising period, will not just wait for sports brands to work. The biggest trend at the moment is that the sportswear is quickly moving closer to the high-end fashion industry. H&M and other fast fashion brands can't wait to jump in. Others include fashion designer brands such as Tory Burch, self-owned brands such as Beyonce, and venture capital companies. The pressure of competition is evident.

As a result, Under Armour’s new product line needs a more diversified approach that requires both a sense of movement and a sense of fashion, as well as the need to include full outfits such as accessories and footwear to keep consumers in their stores. More time.

Ben Pruess, senior vice president of the brand, recently said in an interview with Business of Fashion that the new product is definitely not only worn during sports. He even said directly, “This is not sportswear. It is not sportswear. It is Give clothes to young, aggressive young generations.” Or in other words, this product may be a sportswear line with both Under Armour and Coppens's independent brand attributes.

It is not yet clear whether this decision is really selling. In addition to design itself, pricing can be a very critical link. Coppens' own brand T-shirt sells for about US$250 (about RMB1625), and Under Armour’s T-shirt sells for about US$30 (about RMB195). And Under Armour's previous pricing was generally lower than that of Nike, Adidas, and Lululemon, and we tentatively estimate that the UAS series will be priced between $100 and $250. What is the ideal price in your heart?