The John Varvatos chapter at Under Armour may have come to an end but the designer is engrossed in a new passion: fabric design.
In the fall of 2023, the Baltimore-based sports brand named Varvatos its chief design officer. Varvatos had been consulting for the company since earlier that year and had been brought in-house to oversee the design direction across its entire portfolio of apparel, footwear and accessories and to oversee its design studios in Baltimore, New York and Portland, Ore.
He’s kept a low profile since the appointment, but Under Armour founder and chief executive officer Kevin Plank had long been a fan of the designer and was instrumental in bringing him on board.
Varvatos said he actually left the company in November, but his departure was not made public. An Under Armour spokesperson confirmed the exit on Thursday.
“I always said I wasn’t planning to be there more than two years,” Varvatos told WWD in an exclusive interview. He said the weekly commute between his home in New York and Under Armour’s headquarters in Baltimore was grueling and he made the decision to return to the Big Apple so he could spend more time with his family.
Adding to the decision was the fact that Under Armour has been working through a number of challenges in the past few years. Plank returned to the CEO chair in April 2024 and is focused on restructuring the Baltimore-based company and returning it to profitability. Earlier this week, it reported an operating loss of $34 million and adjusted operating income of $3 million in the fourth quarter ended March 31. As part of that plan, stock keeping units have been reduced by 25 percent over the past two years and the company is expecting “further reductions as we continue to sharpen the assortment,” Plank said during a conference call on Tuesday.
So while Varvatos may no longer be with Under Armour, he already has another gig. He is working with the Portugal-based Riopele, one of Europe’s leading textile manufacturers, on a “creative collaboration to develop a menswear fabric collection inspired by textile heritage, craftsmanship and vintage aesthetics,” according to Riopele.
The collection will be unveiled in July at Milano Unica. But Varvatos said he has already begun previewing it to certain brands and the reception has been strong.
“I have worked with Riopele from the other side of the table for almost 30 years, and have always seen it as an extraordinarily innovative company — in design, fabrics, and the way it combines tradition with a contemporary vision of the industry,” Varvatos said. “Very few companies are able to bring together heritage, performance, sustainability and creativity the way Riopele does.”
The collaboration is described as a reimagination of the traditional textile model and will feature a “fully realized wardrobe concept across different garments and product categories,” Riopele said.
It will include fabrics for suits, jackets, outerwear, shirts, pants and other products, all of which are being designed to complement one another, Varvatos said. The Riopele by John Varvatos fabrics will offer “texture and character that are also lightweight, performance driven and wonderful for the modern consumer.”
In addition to the main collection, exclusive fabrics and coordinated stories for brands will also be offered, he said.
“The idea behind this collection comes from the belief that you need to respect the past in order to move forward,” Varvatos said. “At Riopele, I found a rare combination of craftsmanship, vintage inspiration and innovation, to translate into fabrics with texture and character that are also lightweight, performance-driven and easy care.”
Although he is best known for his apparel, Varvatos has long worked closely on fabric design as well.
“I’ve always said that every idea starts with the fabric,” he said. “Understanding how the fabric looks, feels, tailors and drapes can be as — or more — important than the garment design. My brand was built on unique fabrics. They were a huge part of my identity. John Varvatos is always recognized for those special textures, dying processes, finishes and hand. Fabric has always been one of my biggest passions in my career. And it’s fun to now be sitting on the other side of the table.”
For Riopele, the partnership reinforces the company’s positioning in international markets, particularly in North America. The company, which was founded in 1927, exports more than 98 percent of its production to more than 50 countries.
Massimo Cedraschi, director of operations for North America for Riopele, said: “Collaborating with John Varvatos is the ultimate package because he brings the rare perspective of both a creator and a buyer. He understands how to build product with authentic design integrity, while also knowing exactly what resonates in the marketplace.”
Varvatos has a long history in fashion. He grew up in Detroit and joined Polo Ralph Lauren in 1984. He was recruited by Calvin Klein in 1990 to be head of menswear design. In 1995, he returned to Polo as head of menswear design for Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Black Label and the Polo Jeans Co. He launched his own eponymous collection in 2000, the same year he received the Perry Ellis Award for New Menswear Designer from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He received his second CFDA award for Menswear Designer of the Year in 2001.
The John Varvatos brand is still in operation, and is now owned by London-based Lion/Hendrix Cayman Ltd., an affiliate of the brand’s majority partner Lion Capital, which purchased it following the bankruptcy filing of John Varvatos Enterprises in May 2020.
Just one year after exiting his namesake label in October 2021, Varvatos introduced a new brand, On This Day, or OTD. That business was shuttered less than two years later, when Varvatos joined Under Armour.
