Under Armour to accelerate footwear development
The Oregon-based footwear giant introduced its newest center for performance innovation, bringing footwear design and development under one roof
The company has announced this new innovation centre as a move to assist the “company's most significant push in the footwear business to date”.
The Under Armour Portland office (UA PDX) will be the home for the design, development and innovation teams working on the creation of the company's next generation Basketball, Running, Training, Golf, Sportstyle and Outdoor footwear. The 70 000 square foot building sits in Southwest Portland adjacent to the recently refurbished Duniway Park, and at the site of a former YMCA facility.
UA PDX was created to condense and accelerate the footwear and apparel design process by connecting designers and developers with an innovation team and athlete performance analytics in real-time and around the world.
"Footwear is a key driver of our long-term growth and success”, commented Peter Ruppe, Sr. Vice President for Footwear at Under Armour, adding: "We've established a strong foundation, and now UA PDX represents a considerable leap forward towards creating leading performance footwear designed to make athletes better."
Under Armour has also begun to establish roots in the Portland community beyond the UA PDX facility. The company played a key role in refurbishing and updating the sports fields, running tracks and trails at Lents and Duniway Parks in downtown Portland.