In what shouldn't come as much of a surprise, Under Armour CEO and founder Kevin Plank isn't a big fan of his competitors like Nike and adidas. The outspoken leader of the Baltimore-based brand criticized sportswear innovations from the industry at large in a new interview with Footwear News.
"When our industry talks about innovation, it’s a joke, it’s laughable," Plank said. "My competitors talk about how innovative they are with a new knit upper. A new knit upper is your definition of innovation? A shoe that doesn’t tie? That’s innovation? Great, another thing my kids aren’t going to have to learn."
His comments on knit uppers come off as a reference to Nike's Flyknit technology—although adidas has knit sneakers too now with its Primeknit line. His comments on sneakers that don't tie could refer to Nike's Flyease line of shoes or its upcoming Hyperadapt self-lacing shoe.
Ironically, Plank's brand is in the knit sneaker game now too, having debuted its knit Slingshot runner in March.
