Under Armour is targeting Gen Z athletes with a shoe that's part training sneaker and part slip-on shoe

• UA Slipspeed sneaker features a collapsible heel that can be worn as a performance shoe or slide.
• Slipspeed is designed to adapt to athletes' busy schedules, Under Armour says. 
• The shoe is also part of a new marketing strategy that zeroes in on 16 to 20-year old athletes.  

Under Armour's latest training shoe targets young Gen Z athletes that crush the heels of their sneakers and turn them into slides after workouts.  

The new UA Slipspeed sneaker retails for $150 and features a collapsible heel that can be worn as a slide or performance shoe. 

"You wear this thing up in speed mode or you can wear it down in slip mode," Kevin Plank, Under Armour's executive chairman and founder, said at a launch party for a new brand pop-up store in New York City's Flatiron district this week. 

According to Under Armour, Slipspeed is designed to adapt to athletes' busy schedules, where a basketball player may go from working out and practicing in the morning to lounging around or studying later in the day. Presumably, what the typical day of a high-school or college athlete looks like.  

The sneaker soft launched in October, but was released to the wider public on February 14. In addition to the convertible heel, the shoe features Under Armour's flow cushioning technology and BOA fit lacing system, which uses a dial to tighten the sneakers rather than traditional laces. 

"Instead of having to put on running shoes then training shoes then slides, it really is taking the thought out of the athletes' life and making their lives easier," Under Armour's director of product Marcus Cheatham told Forbes in the fall. 

The Slipspeed sneaker is key to Under Armour's new marketing strategy. The Baltimore-based brand is zeroing in on 16 to 20-year old athletes and making a concerted effort to be a part of their lives outside of competition and training. 

The shift will allow Under Armour to "provide gear to cover all 24 hours of a young athlete's life, while considerably expanding the addressable market size that we can attack," Plank told investors on a November earnings call.