04 Mar Under Armour Appoints Kip Fulks President of Footwear and Innovation
Under Armour Inc. said Kip J. Fulks, one of the original founders of Under Armour and formerly the company’s chief operating officer and president of product, has been named president of footwear and innovation.
The change was announced in a regulatory filing. In this role Fulks will focus on a key growth driver for the company as the leader of its global footwear product category and will also continue to oversee product innovation for Under Armour across the world.
Brad Dickerson, the company’s chief financial officer, has also been named chief operating officer. Dickerson currently has oversight of the company’s accounting, finance, legal, compliance and corporate real estate functions. In his expanded role as chief operating officer and chief financial officer, he now also assumes oversight of the company’s supply chain operations and corporate strategy.
On Jan. 27, Under Armour had announced that Peter Ruppe joined the organization’s executive leadership team as senior vice president of footwear and he continues in that role, according to a UA spokesperson. Ruppe is directly responsible for guiding the strategy, merchandising and development of all footwear. He had a 25-year career at Nike, including VP and general manager of global footwear categories and merchandising. Fritz Taylor, who formerly ran Mizuno’s run category, was hired as VP Run last year.
The hirings comes as the company is gaining momentum in footwear. Footwear sales in the fourth quarter jumped 55.0 percent to $85.8 million, led by running on the success of its Speedform platform. Basketball also gaining some traction. The brand made a splash with its launch around the NBA All Star game of Stephen Curry’s first signature shoe.