Dive Brief:
- Sperry has named Chris Echevarria, founder and creative director of Blackstock & Weber, as the creative director for a capsule collection of men’s shoes, per a press release sent to Fashion Dive.
- The limited-edition ‘Sperry by Chris Echevarria’ line is currently in development and is expected to be released globally in the first quarter of 2024, per the release. It will feature footwear styles based on Sperry’s boat shoe heritage.
- Sperry is no stranger to fashion partnerships. The brand released a collection with Brooks Brothers earlier this year, and has previously worked with Herschel, Rains, Band of Outsiders and others. Meanwhile, Echevarria’s Blackstock & Weber has worked with brands including JJJJound, Palmes and J. Crew.
Dive Insight:
The collection will be manufactured in the U.S. at Sperry’s Rancourt factory in Maine, which is one of the few remaining shoe factories in the country, according to the statement.
"We are thrilled to join forces with Chris Echevarria of Blackstock and Weber," Elizabeth Drori, Sperry’s chief marketing officer, said in the release. "His distinct design perspective and focus on impeccable quality aligns seamlessly with Sperry's legacy of producing timeless, high-quality footwear. These shoes not only pay homage to Sperry's heritage but also push the boundaries of design.”
Echevarria founded Blackstock & Weber in 2017, and the FIT-trained menswear designer has previously worked at J. Crew and with Stone Island. At Blackstock & Weber, he has incorporated modern stylings into classic men’s footwear designs and garnered the attention of an enviable younger consumer fanbase.
“I’ve been wearing Sperry Top-Siders since middle school,” Echevarria told Fashion Dive in an email. “I remember buying the Sperry x Band of Outsiders collaboration in college and thinking that one day I’d love to design my own. It’s surreal that it’s actually happening.”
In May, Sperry’s parent company Wolverine World Wide announced it was “exploring strategic alternatives” for the brand of boatwear shoes. Brendan Hoffman, Wolverine’s president and CEO, said in an earnings statement that the company wanted to focus its efforts on its active and work brands, including Merrell, Saucony and Sweaty Betty.
“The recent sale of Keds and pending licensing of Hush Puppies will enable this focus, and these transitions are well underway,” Hoffman said.
Wolverine announced last week that it had sold its U.S. leathers business to New Balance, and sold its Hush Puppies intellectual property in China, Hong Kong and Macau to a longtime current sublicensee in the region.
