10.02.2020

Urban Outdoor Comes To Life

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone in the UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire

The pinnacle product of the Street to Summit collection, the UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire reflects the evolving lifestyle of the modern urban athlete.

 

Despite a growth in the number of Americans participating in at least one outdoor activity in 2018, according to the 2019 Outdoor Participation Report published earlier this year, Americans collectively went on fewer outings, a declining trend that has remained steady over the last few years.

 

It’s true, we’re getting out less, as barriers range from work and family demands to the cost of entry and technological indifference. Nevertheless, more Americans are realizing and understanding the myriad of health benefits in outdoor exercise as activities like hiking, biking, running, kayaking and camping have seen increased participation. And surely the challenging year that is 2020 has enticed many more to seek solace in nature. 

 

It’s getting there that’s the problem. 

 

“We wanted to create a shoe that wasn’t another barrier, but footwear that’s transitional. Be it in the streets of Los Angeles or the Hollywood Hills, I can have the same footwear that can transition with me.”

Yurri Mial, Sr. Footwear Design Manager at Under Armour

To achieve this, Under Armour combined their most advanced technologies and materials with urban outdoor sensibilities so athletes can look and perform their best, from low to high ground.

 

Mial and team began their design journey by looking back at the brand’s 2015 Fat Tire collection of trail runners and hiking boots. Footwear that then featured a large, shock-absorbing Charged Cushioning® midsole with the superior traction of a Michelin®-designed lugged outsole, the inaugural Fat Tires turned heads in the outdoor performance market.

 

With the shape and purpose of the first Fat Tires in mind, the design team then turned to Under Armour’s latest flagship cushioning technology, UA HOVR. A proprietary midsole platform engineered to provide the ideal combination of cushioning and energy return.

 

The sole unit of the UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire is a marvel, containing 360 degrees of soft HOVR foam encapsulated by a dynamic mesh energy-web, atop a bottom loaded plush layer of foam and a Michelin® outsole redesigned with carved nodes for added traction and bounce. Combined, these three layers offer the comfort and rebound of a run shoe with the grip and durability of a boot. 

 

With the foundation laid, Mial and team began working on the upper of this revived Fat Tire. 

 

Japanese culture has inspired the last two seasons of the Summit seasons. The attention then shifted to the samurai, and more specifically the samurai’s equipment and journey—from street to summit—from Tokyo to Mount Fuji.

 

“Samurais have this thing called the agemaki knot,” explains Mial. “If you look at the different armour that they have, their panels are connected by rope and decorative elements, like the agemaki knot. It was fascinating to see how they were both ornate, yet functional at the same time. They held the armour together but they were also symbols, used to represent things like prosperity and family.”

 

These ancient knots spawned the idea for the Summit Fat Tire's unique lacing system that too serves a dual purpose in form and function. The three-lace design provides a stable, lockdown fit with a toggle cord cinch for easier entry and exit. 

 

UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire sketches

UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire sketches

Underneath the lacing system lies a protective ripstop upper with a molded heel overlay for added support, a comfortable stretch-knit collar, and a sock-like neoprene tongue.

 

Technical and intelligently bold, the UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire challenges you to seek adventure and step out of your comfort zones. 

 

“Most of us as kids had this wonder for being outdoors, and I want us to get back to this innocent state, to realize the world is bigger than us,” says Mial of his appreciation for the great outdoors. “As we grow older, the world becomes much more centered on us, our things and our problems, so it’s important to go out and recharge, and see these beautiful landscapes that we’re usually only seeing on computer backgrounds and Instagram. It’s one thing to see it, it’s another to experience it in its totality.”

 

The Under Armour HOVR Summit Fat Tire will be available globally across UA.com and UA Brand Houses for $170 USD on October 2, with additional colorways dropping throughout the remainder of the year.

 

UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire

UA HOVR Summit Fat Tire