This April at Milan Design Week, pioneering brands Under Armour, Inc. and UNLESS, Inc. united to debut a game-changing, regenerative sportswear collection. Within a soulful, streetwear meets Mother Nature-inspired space at Fuorisalone, visitors were encouraged to explore the eco-conscious future of the sportswear industry. Illuminating skillful and impassioned behind-the-scenes innovation, from solely utilizing plant-based materials to partnering with a like-minded startup, the Under Armour x UNLESS presentation sparked vital conversation on revolutionary product creation. Whitewall sat down with the astute Yassine Saidi, Chief Product Officer at Under Armour, to talk about influencing the entire ecosystem and debuting at the platform where all creative fields come together.
Portrait courtesy of Yassine Saidi.
Courtesy of Under Armour and UNLESS.
WHITEWALL: What inspired this collaboration and why debut it during Fuorisalone?
YASSINE SAIDI: For 30 years, the brand has broken through and innovated with this base layer, rooted in sport and performance. We’ve always been talking about sustainability, and sustainability has always been a talking point in the industry. But I’ve been at different brands where we talk about sustainability as almost greenwashing and not really do anything because the business is rooted in poly, for example, or in chemicals. This event here at Milan Design Week is a new chapter. We’ve decided to be at Design Week to encourage and show different creative fields what we can do in our industry within regenerative apparel.
“This event here at Milan Design Week is a new chapter,”
Yassine Saidi
We started working on regenerative apparel a long time ago, when UNLESS was acquired by the company it became a priority for us. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to change the industry in the next two years, it might take a decade or two to be able to transform it. But here we put a flag on the ground and say, we’re going to own this. We invite every brand to join the effort and be part of it so we can influence suppliers, the supply chain, and the entire ecosystem. It’s a starting point. You’re quite limited in terms of fabric you can use. For example, not using glue, it’s a massive challenge. But we are making pretty fast progress in how we can actually cover this.
Expanding the Conversation into Innovation at Milan Design Week
Courtesy of Under Armour and UNLESS.
Courtesy of Under Armour and UNLESS.
WW: What do you see as the role of a design fair like Milan Design Week in expanding the conversation beyond fashion and into innovation and impact?
YS: We thought a lot about how we’re going to talk about regenerative apparel and how Under Armour will have an impact in the industry. We could have been at Sustainability Week in New York. We could have gone to any sustainability fair, convention, but we decided to come here because Milan Design Week is the platform where all creative fields and people meet.
The Ongoing Journey of Regenerative Apparel
Courtesy of Under Armour and UNLESS.
WW: How do you envision the journey of regenerative apparel? What’s the philosophy and how far can you go into educating and transforming habits?
YS: There are two sides to it. First is the research and development that we are investing in and continuing to pursue with regenerative apparel. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done finding new fabric. Then it’s bringing the design elements to the product, creating beautiful, fashion forward regenerative apparel.
“It’s bringing the design elements to the product, creating beautiful, fashion forward regenerative apparel,”
Yassine Saidi
What I’m trying to do at Under Armour overall is root the work that we’re doing in innovation in technology and mix it with innovation in design. And merging these two things will get us to a place where the industry will adopt new ways of creating products.
Courtesy of Under Armour and UNLESS.
