PARIS — Tag Heuer and New Balance, who both count Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone as their ambassador, have teamed up for a collaboration highlighting their latest innovations.
And from Wednesday, the two-time Olympic champion and 400m hurdle world record holder will be the face of the technologically advanced running set, which outfits her feet and her wrist.
For the Swiss watchmaker, it marks the introduction of the Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 40mm, the fifth generation in its 10-year-old connected timepiece line. In addition to the new case size and refinements to its designs for a smoother silhouette, the Calibre E5 also makes strides in terms of tactile experience and battery life.
The watch’s New Balance Edition comes with a running strap has also been developed, with elements creating a light air vacuum in places to help it contour the wrist better and be more comfortable.
You May Also Like
Meanwhile, the American sports-centric brand is spotlighting its New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5 running shoe, billed as its “highest energy return, lightest weight and highest performance product” to date. It comes dressed in the green and purple tones of the collaboration and features the watchmaker’s shield in the design.
Both products are limited to 3,000 pieces worldwide.
As part of the collaboration, six running plans embarked on the Connected E5 have been developed with New Balance coaches to help runners achieve a range of goals from running foundations to marathons, through achieving 10-kilometer challenges, training up from 5-kilometer races to half marathons and beyond.
McLaughlin-Levrone said she was drawn to the collaboration because “Tag Heuer is all about being designed to win.”
“Being the face of this new campaign with New Balance is exciting because I actually love what this watch and shoe together bring to training,” she continued. “They are built for athletes who want to stay accountable, trust their plan and keep pushing for better every single day.”
For Chris Davis, brand president and chief marketing officer of New Balance, it came down to the shared belief that “if you’re standing still, you’re moving backward,” as he put it in a joint interview with Tag Heuer chief marketing officer George Ciz.
“We always say that we’re a brand with heritage, not a heritage brand,” Davis told WWD. “That distinction is so important, because while we honor our history, our past and our heritage, we’re relentlessly focused on innovating into the future.”
Ciz described the collaboration as the intersection of two long trajectories on parallel paths that began in 1906 for the Boston-based sports company, and 1816 for the watchmaker.
“Both have been around for more than 100 years [and] started with entrepreneurs,” he said. “Both brands love innovation, love performance, love sports in general, and really are obsessed of making the best possible products that allow the athletes to perform better.”
The cherry on the cake is McLaughlin-Levrone, for Ciz “one of the most beautiful, fastest, most amazing athletes on the planet that represents both brands,” respectively since 2018 for New Balance and 2021 for Tag Heuer.
For the watchmaking executive, unveiling the Connected E5 through this collaboration was about falling in step with the interests of its target audience, a group he described as “in their 30s, [having] now the disposable income and [who] created a great life for themselves” and being equally invested in their careers as they are in their health, wellness and fitness.
Running, in particular, has emerged as an important vector for this and is “the sport that’s growing like crazy,” Ciz continued.
After Wednesday’s reveal in Boston, at New Balance’s campus, the collaboration partners will hit the ground running at the New York Marathon on Nov. 2, where they will have a running crew of influential athletes equipped with the timepiece and sneakers.
Billboards featuring McLaughlin-Levrone and the new gear will also be unveiled at key airports around the world, including New York’s John F. Kennedy International and Paris Charles de Gaulle.
The Tag Heuer Connected Calibre E5 40mm x New Balance Edition will retail for 1,950 Swiss francs in selected physical stores and online, while the Tag Heuer x New Balance FuelCell SC Elite v5 will be available exclusively from the sports brand’s flagships and directly operated stores in major cities as well as online.
