The shoe designer Dave Dombrow has made his second exit from Under Armour in three years. The Baltimore-based company has confirmed the departure but made no further comment. However, it has since hired Kasey Jarvis to replace Dombrow as of April. For the past months, Jarvis has been director of design at Black Diamond, the brand of outdoor, skiing and trekking gear with headquarters in Salt Lake City. He has also designed sneakers at Nike and worked at General Motors.
At Under Armour, Jarvis will be reporting to Kevin Eskridge, chief product officer. According to Kevin Plank, UA's founder and chief executive, the company is at a crossroads. UA is striving to achieve a difficult shift toward performance products in an athleisure-friendly market, but also to “earn back” business from retailers through better product.
The departed designer might have been part of the company's initial plan. Dumbrow was involved in several high-profile projects at UA, notably designing the sneakers for the basketball star Stephen Curry and helping to launch the Charge RC, Speedform Apollo and Gemini shoes in the running category. But he has also ping-ponged between major sneaker brands. After an internship with Salomon, Dombrow started out as a designer with three years at Nike. He then spent two years at GBMI and four years at Puma. He joined UA in 2010, working his way up from creative director of footwear to senior vice president of design for footwear and accessories.
Though seemingly on the fast track, Dombrow left the company in February of 2016, and was purportedly headed back to Nike, his alma mater, albeit with a non-compete clause in force. By August, however, he was once again at Under Armour, this time as chief design officer – a post created for him.