LONDON – Chanel will become the title sponsor and official timekeeping partner of the oldest major sporting event in the U.K., the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge universities, which takes place on the River Thames.
Chanel said Tuesday it has signed a longterm deal with The Boat Race Company Ltd., and starting next year the event will be known as the Chanel J12 Boat Race.
Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel Watches & Fine Jewelry, said the brand and the race “share the same values of collective endeavor, and the pursuit of excellence. It’s an honor to be the first-ever official timekeeper in the race’s 195-year history, and to simultaneously become title sponsor and principal partner.”
Siobhan Cassidy, chair of The Boat Race Company Ltd., which operates the event, said, “we knew when we first met, on June 10 – the same date as the first ever Boat Race in 1829 – that [Chanel] understood the appeal of our event. We’re very confident their involvement will help us take the event to new places and new people, as well as enhancing it for our millions of existing followers.”
The race sees crews of eight rowers from each university pitted against each other on the Thames every spring, with crowds flocking to the riverbanks to cheer them on. The event draws more than 250,000 spectators, is broadcast live on the BBC, and watched by millions on TV.
The 2025 edition of The Women’s Boat Race and The Men’s Boat Race will take place on April 13 along the 4.25 miles of the Championship Course between Putney and Mortlake in London.
The sponsorship is in keeping with Chanel’s heritage.
The house’s founder Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was an avid sportswoman, regularly smashing balls around the tennis court at La Pausa, her villa above Roquebrune on France’s Côte d’Azur, and hunting, fishing and riding horses with her longtime partner, the Duke of Westminster.
She regularly used materials such as jerseys and tweeds to create clothing that gave women freedom of movement to ride horses, cycle, and spend time in the outdoors, exercising and soaking up sun.
The brand launched the J12 unisex watch in 2000, with the name inspired by the J Class 12-meter racing boats from the early 20th century. It is produced in Switzerland with self-winding movements from the Swiss Manufacture Kenissi, which is co-owned by Chanel.
This is not the first time that Chanel has forged ties with Cambridge.
As reported last month, Chanel has extended its sustainability partnership with the University of Cambridge for a further three years.
The two first teamed in 2021, and the brand has since partnered with experts from across the university — including the Institute for Sustainability Leadership, the Institute for Manufacturing, and the Cambridge Judge Business School — to deliver on three core impact areas: building sustainability skills and knowledge, implementing innovative solutions, and supporting students on their path to sustainability leadership.
Alongside education programs, teams from Chanel Fashion have worked with technical experts within the Institute for Manufacturing to run a series of intensive workshops, prototyping effective solutions for Chanel and its value chain, and resulting in significant energy and material use savings year-on-year.