Kyle Blakely heads innovation, development and testing for Under Armour, a global innovator and leader in athletic performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. In this role, he oversees the brand’s global innovation activities to design, test and deliver new product ideas and inventions that make athletes better and advance performance-driven sustainability. A materials expert with nearly 16 years of industry experience, he is listed as an inventor on 45 patents to date, with over a dozen more pending.
Kyle joined the brand as a materials developer in 2008 and served in a variety of leadership roles across the company prior to assuming his current position. Today, he leads a talented team of experts to engineer and advance the superior fit, comfort, and performance of Under Armour products – including materials scientists, developers, biomechanical researchers, data analysts, wear-testers, designers and production artists – and he oversees the company’s state-of-the-art innovation lab at its Baltimore headquarters.
Under Kyle’s leadership, the company has developed many industry-leading technologies and innovations, including:
Kyle is passionate about advancing the company’s core value to ‘Act Sustainably’ and has co-written and been featured in GreenBiz articles. He is the executive sponsor for UA’s Green Machine teammate resource group, which promotes sustainability through innovation, education, and community action. He serves on the Wilson College of Textiles’ Textile and Apparel, Technology and Management (TATM) Industry Advisory Board (IAB) at North Carolina State. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Textile Management and a minor in Entrepreneurship from North Carolina State University.