Perspiration Inspiration

摘要

ELEVEN YEARS AGO, KEVIN A. Plank was a walk-on football player at the University of Maryland who relished throwing his body at hulking opponents. But he hated how the cotton T-shirts under his uniform got sopping wet with sweat or rain. By then, cycling outfits and football undershorts were made with moisture-wicking synthetic fabrics. Plank, a starter during kick-offs and punts, wondered why not gridiron T-shirts, too? He tore the content label off a pair of his wick-away shorts, bought the same material from a fabric store, and gave a tailor 460 dollars to sew seven shirts. "I set out to build a better football undershirt," he says. Plank's teammates loved the tees. So he drove to New York's garment district, had hundreds more samples made, and dubbed his invention "Under Armour." Now, at 33, Plank is the multimillionaire head of an athletic apparel powerhouse. Sales of Under Armour Inc.'s skintight shirts and other products have soared an average annual 78.3 percent for the past three years, to 310.6 million dollars over the past 12-month period. That lands the company at No. 6 on BusinessWeek's Hot Growth ranking, with no slowdown in sight. "Under Armour could be the next Nike," says Wachovia Securities analyst John P. Rouleau.