Under Armour and Steph Curry unveil the Curry Brand

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Dec 2, 2020

Under Armour, Inc. has unveiled a new brand in partnership with NBA star and two-time MVP, Stephen Curry. 

The Curry Brand, launching this week, features footwear, apparel, and accessories across multiple categories including basketball and golf, with continued category expansion in future seasons such as running and women's, Under Armour said. The brand's apparel and accessories will be available at currybrand.com, and performance basketball footwear is set to release globally on December 11.

Dubbed "a purpose-led performance brand," the Curry Brand incorporates charity into its DNA by working to provide opportunity for youth sports in under-resourced communities. 

The brand will kick-off this initiative by working with Oakland Unified School District middle schools and by partnering with Positive Coaching Alliance to provide professional development for every youth sports coach in the Oakland Unified School District as well as Oakland Parks, Recreation & Youth Development. As Curry Brand develops its impact model and builds its portfolio of partners, it is committed to helping more than 100,000 young athletes by 2025, Under Armour said. 

"Through the community work I've done with Under Armour for over a decade, I've learned that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not," Curry said. 

"All of our work together has been dedicated to creating a more equal playing field that closes the gap between those two areas. Through Curry Brand, along with the work of Ayesha and my foundation Eat.Learn.Play., I now have a long term plan to continue to address the barriers to sport that often hinder and limit a child's potential for greatness."

The partnership with Curry, who has 31.8 million followers on Instagram, is set to raise Under Armour's profile with younger consumers and help the brand challenge celebrity athlete-packed competitors like Nike and Adidas. 

In late October, Under Armour beat quarterly revenue estimates, thanks in part to online demand for athletic apparel and sneakers, as more consumers work out at home or outside during the Covid-19 pandemic. The boost marked a bright spot for the retailer, which saw its revenue sink by a whopping 41% in the second quarter, as the pandemic caused physical stores to temporarily shut down. 

The company expects its full year 2020 revenue to be down by a percentage in the high-teens, a significant improvement from the 25.7% drop previously predicted by analysts.