Joshua Vides Talks Blending Artistry With Sport For His First-Ever Under Armour Collaboration
At the start of 2025, Under Armour will host its 17th annual UA Next All-America Game Week, featuring several of the country’s best high school volleyball and football players. And for the first time, it has collaborated with an artist to reimagine both the event’s uniforms and to create an exclusive collection.
That artist is Joshua Vides, who is renowned for his pop art-inspired designs.
Speaking with FN, Vides admitted to being a longtime fan of Under Armour, recalling the times seeing the recognizable “UA” branding on his chest while playing sports in middle school and high school. Also, Vides stated he was influenced by the brand’s appearance in the 1999 film “Any Given Sunday” starring Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J.
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“I remember watching that as a kid and being like, ‘All these people have Under Armour on and they all look buff and super athletic.’ I was like, ‘I can’t wait to look like that and wear this super compression shirt,'” Vides said with a laugh.
The relationship with Under Armour, Vides explained, began organically through a social media post.
“I was at my son’s baseball practice a year and a half ago, and I went on my [Instagram] stories and was like, ‘Why isn’t anybody doing anything cool in baseball?’ One of the people from Under Armour saw that and they were like, ‘We love what you do. Maybe we can start a conversation?'” he shared. “Obviously, things tethered to football and volleyball as opposed to baseball, but it all started with me being like, ‘Why isn’t anybody doing a bunch of cool sports stuff?’ There’s so much going on in basketball, but football, baseball, volleyball, you don’t see it being connected to our culture, this hype, cool person.”
Vides’ designs for this collection, Under Armour explained, captures “the dynamic energy of sports through an immersive visual lens, celebrating athleticism and individuality both in competition and daily life.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity to work in such a capacity,” Vides said. “I’ve done high fashion at this point, I’ve done footwear a bunch of times, I’ve done all kinds of things, but not necessarily something that an athlete can go and perform in. For me, that was a home run.”
He continued, “Under Armour came to me and was like we have this opportunity that we haven’t activated in. Once they broke it down, I was like that sounds cool because it’s the up-and-comers, it’s the youth, it’s the kids that one day might go pro and win the Heisman or who knows what kind of accolades. Once we were aligned on what this was, we hit the ground running — let’s make jerseys, let’s make cleats, gloves, volleyball shoes, football fields.”
For those who are competing, Under Armour’s range with Vides will include game day uniforms for all of the athletes. And for those who are not, their collaborative collection will include men’s and women’s sportswear, as well as several footwear selections.
The collection includes a trio of football cleats: the Blue Pro, the Highlight MC 2.0 and the Spotlight Pro. There are also two volleyball shoes — the Flow Ace and the Flow Highlight Ace — and a bold iteration of the UA SlipSpeed Mega Ripstop, the highlight of Under Armour’s Sportstyle collection.
“Just holding one of these things is so crazy to see my design on,” Vides said. “At this point, I’ve had like 20 shoes all over different brands, and for the most part, it’s lifestyle. This is not an expected footwear collaboration.”
He continued, “This is a completely separate category where people that play sports, mainly football and volleyball, that maybe have a shoe wall at their house but don’t have the opportunity to flex that [style] muscle on the field or on the court.”
Under Armour will release its collaboration with Vides for the UA Next All-America Game on Dec. 27 via UA.com. It will also release at the UA Campus Brand House in Baltimore and at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
The UA Next All-America Game Week will take place Jan. 1-2, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. The UA Next All-America Boys Football Game, with rosters that includes top players from UA Next Camps and Future 50, will take place Jan. 2 at Spec Martin Stadium. What’s more, Under Armour stated this year’s event will include the first-ever women’s flag football game, which is also scheduled to take place on Jan. 2.
About the Author
Peter Verry is the Senior News and Features Editor for Athletic and Outdoor at Footwear News. He oversees coverage of the two fast-paced and ultracompetitive markets, which includes conducting in-depth interviews with industry leaders and writing stories on sneakers and outdoor shoes. He is a lifelong sneaker addict (and shares his newest purchases via @peterverry on Instagram) and spends most of his free time on a trail. He holds an M.A. in journalism from Hofstra University and can be reached at peter.verry@footwearnews.com.
