LONDON — Under Armour is launching Rebel Daughter, a new, women-focused platform in collaboration with Fengchen Wang, founder of her namesake label Feng Chen Wang.
The Chinese fashion designer has been tasked with spearheading the newly formed entity as a strategic partner, WWD has learned.
The first collaborative collection was teased as part of the Feng Chen Wang spring 2027 runway show in Paris last week, ahead of its global rollout by the end of 2026.
A Rebel Daughter look teased as part of the Feng Chen Wang spring 2027 runway show in Paris.
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Wang’s appointment marks the first time the Baltimore-based performance brand has built a global strategy from China outward rather than exporting a U.S.-centric point of view.
“For us, it’s not about transporting values from one country to another. Years ago, you could be an American brand and be successful in China. Now you have to be a brand that’s really relevant to the Chinese consumer,” said Simon Pestridge, Under Armour’s chief marketing officer and managing director for Asia-Pacific.
Rebel Daughter will sit at the core of that shift, as the line has been conceived as a multiseason, co-created women’s platform where Wang leads the design narrative, while Under Armour contributes to performance, innovation and distribution.
“This isn’t a one-off; this isn’t a collaboration; this is a real partnership,” Pestridge reiterated.
“We’re going to drop this product into the market in December and January with a global launch. Then as we get into season two, season three, season four, we’ll see that expand around the world,” he added.
Wang, who has been steadily building a global following while staying rooted in Chinese culture, began incorporating Under Armour into her universe before any official deal was reached. Pieces like the Arc 96 sneaker and compression layers had appeared at her March show at Shanghai Fashion Week, during which she was named the winner of the inaugural New Wave Fashion Awards’ top honor, Visionary of the Year.
A Rebel Daughter look teased as part of the Feng Chen Wang spring 2027 runway show in Paris.
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Internally at Under Armour, Rebel Daughter is positioned as a way to refresh how the sportswear group talks to the “modern athlete,” from in the gym to on the street with women at the center of the storytelling.
“We’re not asking her to come in and rethink the brand from scratch. We have a great brand, and we know what our promise is. It’s how you make that relevant to the modern athlete, not only in China but around the world,” Pestridge said.
“Women’s sport is an area that’s really important for us to break the stereotypes that exist in Asia, especially, and show how empowering and inspirational sport is,” he added.
Wang’s role at Rebel Daughter, according to Pestridge, is as “a strategic partner” in reshaping how the brand shows up in emerging sports and on global stages, from flag football, which Pestridge cited as a particular growth engine in Asia, to future major sports events.
“I want Wang to be on the global stage with Under Armour in some of these new, exciting emerging sports. There’s so much fun we can have because she is really rooted in the DNA of our brand,” Pestridge added.
Simon Pestridge
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The partnership is also aimed at highlighting the rise of Asia-Pacific as both a growth driver and cultural lab for the company. The region currently represents about a quarter of Under Armour’s global business, with China its largest market in the region.
“Asia-Pacific as a whole is about a quarter of the global business,” Pestridge noted, adding that the division is emerging from “a couple of years of recalibration and is just about to go back into growth phase.”
Pestridge’s own trajectory underscores the shift. A former longtime Nike executive, he later helped transform Bali’s Potato Head into a sustainability-driven cultural destination before joining Under Armour.
Often described as a “transformation leader,” the Rebel Daughter launch with Wang is his first major project since he expanded his responsibilities beyond Asia-Pacific to oversee global marketing earlier this year.
“Partnerships like this really help us show that we understand sport in China and what the consumer journey is. If we can get more women into the gym, playing sport, and Wang allows us to accelerate that, everyone’s a winner,” added Pestridge.
A 2015 graduate of the Royal College of Art’s menswear pathway, Wang has brought fresh energy to the East-meets-West narrative, weaving traditional craft and cultural references often rooted in her hometown Fujian province, into modern sartorial and streetwear codes.
She made her runway debut in London with Lulu Kennedy’s emerging support platform MAN in 2016. Since then her brand has also shown in New York and Shanghai in addition to London, and launched a slew of high-profile global partnerships with the likes of Apple, Audi, Nike, Converse, Canada Goose, Barbour, Ugg, Crocs, and Levi’s.
Wang is also one of the 10 designers selected for Kering’s new initiative in China dubbed CRAFT, which stands for Creative Residency for Artisanship, Fashion and Technology, following a LVMH Prize nomination in 2016.
