Under Armour hires new marketing, digital executives

As Under Armour continues to restructure in an effort to regain its momentum, the Baltimore-based brand tapped a veteran of Tommy Hilfiger as its new chief marketing officer.

Alessandro de Pestel most recently served as executive vice president of marketing, communications and consumer insights for Tommy Hilfilger Global/PVH Europe. Reporting directly to Patrik Frisk, Under Armour’s president and chief op- erating officer, , de Pestel will be based in Baltimore at the company headquarters.

Prior to Tommy Hilfiger, de Pestel worked at Christian Dior Parfums in France and for Omega Watches in Switzerland.

Under Armour also hired Ann Funai as senior vice president, engineering, in Austin, Texas, to oversee engineering across Under Armour’s digital ecosystem, including its fitness applications and global e-commerce operations. Funai has been chief technology officer at PeopleAdmin, a software firm focused on talent management for the education industry. Before that she was at IBM.

“We’re excited to welcome Alessandro and Ann to the Under Armour team, two talented senior executives who will help us connect even more deeply with our consumers through powerful engagements and premium experiences,” said Under Armour Chairman and CEO Kevin Plank in a statement. “The diversity of their global experience and insights will enrich and advance our marketing and digital capa- bilities to deliver an even more seamless experience to our consumers — whenever and wherever they engage the Under Armour brand.”

Under Armour announced last week that it was laying off about 400 workers — 3 percent of its workforce — in the latest phase of a restructuring that began last year after the fast-growing company stumbled toward the end of 2016 amid intense competition, closures of key retailers and changing consumer tastes in the sports apparel category.