Under Armour glove
maker Ryan Lawrence knew authenticity in the baseball world required
top-quality construction. He didn’t want to enter the fielding glove world with
some crazy new material or futuristic design. He wanted Under Armour to prove
it knew how to make top-quality products for baseball, steeped in tradition and
craftsmanship.
“A fielding glove is, I would argue, the most important product to a baseball
player. Kids go to sleep with their glove, dads pass down their glove. We
understand baseball. We have baseball players in-house and we wanted to make a
serious statement about our commitment to baseball and make a product that
agrees with players serious about baseball.”
Under Armour kicked off the effort in 2018 with two high-end glove offerings,
the $350 Flawless line and the $250 Genuine Pro line, to show the brand’s
ability to create quality product.
“I really was seeking to make a glove that felt and looked like a
baseball glove that people were expecting to see and give it a little Under
Armour design,” Lawrence said. “We wanted to make something authentic to the
sport, out of respect for the sport. We need to earn our stripes before we have
license to be innovative or something better than other brands.”
On a design front, Under Armour kept the all-leather designs traditional,
with a patch on the back calling out the hand-crafted nature. All UA logos come
embroidered and don’t expect molded plastic or rubber. Both glove lines come in
Japanese steer hide, with the top five percent of the hides reserved for the
Flawless line to create the “most premium offering.”
Inside the gloves, the Flawless line uses a slightly stiffer felt for
structural support and Pittard sheepskin lining for the most premium moisture
management. The Genuine Pro has a steer hide palm lining.
Each design comes with a full line, from 11.5-inch, 11.75-inch, 12-inch
and 12.75-inch versions, including first base and catchers’ mitts. With
multiple infield and a single outfield design, Under Armour paired the most
popular webbing options with sizing—an I-web with the 11.5-inch and a modified
trap or single-post web with the 11.75-inch, for example—to cover the most
common designs.
“The goal is to have something that services each position on the field,”
Lawrence said. “Where we take it from there is that we need to start showing
more depth of product.”
“Our in-line stuff is meant to be accepted by a general population with
neutral colors,” Lawrence says.
But the 100 to 200 special-edition gloves in the upcoming program show
off the colorful looks possible from Under Armour without needing to stock
every color in every design.
Getting to the final result on the Flawless and Genuine Pro required over
a year of testing. Under Armour joined with teams of high school athletes to
test out everything from colors to branding.
“We wanted to make sure the gloves were grounded in something the
consumer wanted,” Lawrence said. “The colors we are using and the way we are
using the colors were approved by core athletes.”