Nike Hires Under Armour's Top Footwear Designer

After five successful years, Under Armour‘s Senior Vice President of Design Dave Dombrow is leaving the sporting company for Nike. Along with UA’s astounding 95% growth jump during the fourth quarter of 2015 (mostly thanks to Curry Two sales), Dombrow had a smooth run at UA and, under the role of Senior Vice President, he helped oversee some powerful footwear and design projects that included collaborations with the likes of Stephen Curry and Cam Newton. Whether between UA, Nike, or the like, designers switching sides among the sportswear giants is nothing new, and Dombrow himself was comfortably positioned at the Swoosh from 2000 to 2003 and worked at PUMA before moving to Under Armour’s design team. It was just in December 2014 when the adidas-Nike scandal shook the industry, where three of Nike’s ex-senior designers were accused of revealing secrets during their new jobs at The Brand with the Three Stripes in a $10 million USD lawsuit.

In another big move, UA will be opening a 70,000-square-foot design center in Portland, which, as we all know, could be hitting close to home on Nike turf (it’s HQ being at Beaverton, Oregon). Switching up from its current Baltimore-based headquarters, UA’s new facility only represents the company’s hustle for aggressive expansion in the footwear market. Today, Under Armour CEO and co-founder Kevin Plank is still the billion-dollar company’s largest shareholder, while Nike co-founder and 43rd richest person in the world Phil Knight remains as Nike chairman. Dombrow will be commencing his new role at Nike in 2017.

Do you think UA has a chance against the Swoosh?