The first images from Tim Coppens' new line with Under Armour, Under Armour Sportswear, have arrived. The hyped partnership between the sportswear brand and the Belgium designer was first announced in June and is already bearing fruit just two months later.
The concept behind the collection is sportswear applied to the everyday—and the result is essentially the flip side of athleisure. Instead of presenting casual, sportswear items for everyday situations, Coppens applies elements of sportswear into more formal items, like suits, chinos, boots, and Oxford shirts. Soles of leather boots are made out of tire tread, chinos are made out of a waterproof fabric, and the Oxford is equipped with a stretchy fabric at the cuffs and collar and is also waterproof because sometimes life is a Friday Night Lights scene where you have to pull off spontaneous feats of athleticism in the rain.
Of course, there are more sportswear items in the mix as well. The more formal items are paired with sweatpants, a vest, and items that sit somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, like a bomber and parka.
What's most exciting about this collab is that Under Armour didn't limit itself in any way. There was clearly no trepidation about making items that don't fall in its sportswear wheelhouse and the brand also didn't make Coppens plaster the pieces with its logo, which doesn't have the same cachet of a Nike or adidas symbol. But if UA continues to let Coppens do his thing, he could build a lot of cred for the brand. "The categories you wouldn’t expect Under Armour to go are where we spent a lot of time," Ben Pruess, Under Armour’s senior VP of sportswear, told Vogue. "It’s not common for a sports brand to go into suiting, chinos, and oxfords, but those are basic items that aren’t going anywhere. They just needed a fresh take."
The collection is set to hit Barneys, Mr. Porter, UASportswear.com, and Under Armour stores in New York, Boston, and Chicago on Sept. 15. Stay tuned for the rest of the collection to be unveiled. In the meantime, look at the first images of Under Armour Sportswear below.
