Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A Toast for Boast

Don't look now, but Andy Spade 
is readying  us to join the team,
of the country club set, that is.
The eighties tennis brand Boast 
has tapped Partners and Spade to relaunch
and revitalize the eighties cult brand.
Founded by Bill St John, a Cornell grad and tennis pro
from Greenwich Conn, he started the company 
in 1973 to offer an alternative
to European lines like Lacoste and Fred Perry.
It was sold in specialty stores and pro shops
frequented by prepsters.
In the late eighties he refocused the brand into
a private label supplier to country club shops.
Speed through a few years,
 enter new partners
Alexander Tiger and John Dowling
who have relaunched label
as BoastUSA  with an ecommerce site
and plans to expand distribution to 
pro shops and specialty retailers in coming months.*
What I find particularly clever,
 is the rag tag, Roal Tenenbaums spin Andy Spade et al 
has given the campaign....
." Off kilter-country club-William Hurt in the Big Chill".
Genius.


Retailing for about $68, the shirts don't exactly break the bank,
 but there is a $1200 limited edition navy blazer to 
kick it up a notch, look for shorts to follow next spring.

xo