Chanel to Sponsor Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

Chanel is set to sponsor “The Boat Race,” a rowing competition between Oxford and Cambridge that is the UK’s oldest major sporting event.

In what is Chanel’s first move into sports sponsorship, the French luxury house will become the event’s title sponsor and official timekeeper as part of a long-term partnership, according to a statement Tuesday.

The race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities is attended by over 250,000 spectators live and broadcast by the BBC. The 2025 event, scheduled for April 13, will be called the Chanel J12 Boat Race in a nod to the brand’s J12 unisex watch, whose name was actually inspired by J Class 12-metre race boats from the early 1900s.

The partnership comes as Chanel seeks to raise awareness of its watch offer, particularly the flagship J12 model, as well as bolstering its identity in the UK.

Since relocating its corporate headquarters to London in 2018, the brand has shown a high jewellery collection and supported a major museum retrospective on Gabrielle Chanel in the British capital, as well as staging a runway show in Manchester. An 86,000 square-foot headquarters set to open in 2025 will be the first new build on Mayfair’s Berkeley Square in 20 years.

The biggest luxury brands have ramped up their efforts in sports marketing in recent years—from tennis to football to Formula 1—with the aim of appealing to highly engaged fan-bases, aligning themselves with excellence and achievement, and setting themselves apart from smaller rivals.

Brands have upped the ante in boat racing, as Louis Vuitton became the title sponsor of the America’s Cup sailing competition this year while perfume maker Puig sponsored the tournament’s women’s section.

Chanel said the racing partnership would be an “expression of a shared philosophy”, focused on developing talent and showcasing creative expertise.”

Synchronicity in rowing is as crucial to the race as watchmaking craftsmanship to ensure accurate timing. Every rower, like every mechanism in a watch, must work together as one,” said Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel Watches & Fine Jewellery.

Chanel still has not announced a new creative director, after Virginie Viard left the company in June.

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