When Riley Morrison and her father went to Under Armour’s website to buy her a pair of NBA player Stephen Curry’s newest signature sneakers, the Curry 5, they were disappointed to find that the shoes didn’t appear to be available for her. At least, they didn’t turn up in the girl’s section of the website, though they were offered for boys and adults.
The 9-year-old, a fan of the Golden State Warriors star, knew that he has been outspoken about the need for women’s equality and supports young female athletes, hosting an all-girls basketball camp. She decided to write to him about the situation and ask him to fix it. “I hope you can work with Under Armour to change this because girls want to rock the Curry 5’s too,” said the letter, which her father posted to Instagram.
Curry got the message loud and clear. In a handwritten reply posted to Twitter, he said he had been talking to Under Armour for two days about fixing the issue. The problem was that shoes in smaller sizes had been labeled as “boys,” he explained, adding, “We are correcting this now!”
On the Under Armour site, the Curry 5 is now available in the girl’s section, too.
A spokesperson for Under Armour told CBS News that the labeling was a “simple yet critical error.” Youth sizes of the shoes aren’t actually shaped differently for boys or girls.
Curry also said he was sending Riley a pair of Curry 5s, and that she would be among the first kids to get a pair of the Curry 6 when it releases. “Lastly, we have something special in the works for International Women’s Day on March 8th,” he wrote, “and I want you to celebrate with me!” He told her to plan on being in Oakland, where the Warriors play, on that night.
The sneaker industry has been slow to wake up to the fact that women—and girls—want sneakers for themselves. But it has started to pay attention. Adidas, for instance, created a sneaker engineered specifically for female runners, and Nike has launched what it calls a “fantasy sneaker destination for women,” curated by the fashion veteran Sarah Andelman.
At the same time, Nike and Under Armour are addressing allegations that their corporate workplaces were hostile to women. According to the Wall Street Journal, Under Armour was even reimbursing employees for visits to strip clubs (paywall), until the company finally changed its policy earlier this year. A spokesperson for the company said after the Journal’s report that the company doesn’t condone employees using strip clubs for business.
It’s an industry that would certainly be smart to listen to people like Riley.