SPERRY CONTINUES COLLABORATION WITH ROWING BLAZERS
Sperry Cloud, the premium footwear collection from Sperry, is continuing its partnership with Rowing Blazers for spring/summer ’20. The new release features the Rowing Blazers Sperry Cloud Cup – a sailing sneaker taken from the Sperry archive and updated in three colorways in collaboration with Rowing Blazers’ founder and former U.S. team rower Jack Carlson.
“When most people think of Sperry, they think of the original boat shoes – the ones that feature in the Official Preppy Handbook; the ones that Paul Sperry created using a razor blade to score grooves into the soles so that they could grip a boat deck as well as his dog’s paws,” said Rowing Blazers’ Jack Carlson. “But Sperry has a fascinating 85-year history: the brand has remained at the forefront of technical sailing footwear, outfitting successful America’s Cup teams all the way through the ‘80s, ‘90s, and the 2000s.”
Inspired by the original Sperry Cup Sailing Sneaker, the brand’s archival performance sailing sneaker from the late 1980s, the new sneaker features original technical details including white perforated action leather uppers and padded tongue and collar – which were designed to protect sailors’ ankles.
Color pop details in three different color combinations inspired by Rowing Blazers’ spring/summer ‘20 sportswear collection appear in a retro Sperry logo from the 1980s on the padded tongue, and embroidered Sperry logo on the outsoles; hits of color also appear in colored eyelets, leather heel details, an embroidered R.B. monogram, and on Sperry’s signature non-marking flexible rubber outsoles, which feature Sperry’s signature molded Wave-Siping for no-slip traction.
“One of my favorite Sperry models is this late ‘80s-era cup sneaker,” continued Carlson. “It’s as perfect for cruising around SoHo as it is for racing 12 Metres. We brought it out of the archive in three of our favorite Rowing Blazers color codes: orange and green; purple and yellow, and the original burgundy and navy.”
“Our ongoing partnership with Rowing Blazers just gets better and better, and this collab, just in time for Sperry’s 85th anniversary, draws on Sperry’s archival performance sailing sneaker,” added James Hilton, vice president of product management at Sperry. “We love how Rowing Blazers updated it with quirky details and color pops. Collaborations work best when the participating brands share synergies, and Sperry and Rowing Blazers, complement each other perfectly.”
The new sneakers, which retail at $140, is now available at the Rowing Blazers Clubhouse in New York; rowingblazers.com and sperry.com.
