New York City straphangers got a taste of life on the road Thursday night with Blundstone, celebrating its largest collection to date and its collaboration with renowned motorcycle brand Ducati Scrambler. The Australian footwear brand hosted New York City retailers, press and tastemakers at the Limelight Shop in Chelsea — an appropriately named nabe for the brand to fete its iconic line of rugged Chelsea boots.
Spurred on by market demand, the Fall ’15 collection now includes women’s specific boots and a new lace-up and suede style for men. “Tonight was the perfect celebration of Blundstone’s largest new product offering and our important partnership with Ducati,” said Andrew Ross, a Blundstone international sales executive. “New York is a significant market for the brand here in the U.S. and a logical place to launch the Fall 15 collection.”
The event also marked the release of the 2015 Scrambler, Ducati’s “post-heritage” bike, and the boot Blundstone designed specifically for the launch. The new 800 boot in brown leather features an olive green elastic gore paneling with yellow details, a palette seen throughout the entire Ducati Scrambler collection of bikes, apparel and accessories. Other features of the Blundstone 800 boot include custom stitching details on the gearshift protector and the Ducati Scrambler logo on one of the two signature pull-tabs.
Blundstone will produce 3,000 pairs of the limited edition boot to be sold through select U.S. retailers and the brand’s own e-commerce site.