Sebago marked its 80th anniversary in suitably nautical style, bringing its signature American East Coast aesthetic to Turin for the second edition of the Sebago Rowing Cup.
Held on the Po River, the regatta brought together university rowing teams from across Europe, combining competitive sport with the fashion and collegiate influences that have long been central to the Sebago brand.
The event also featured one of the weekend’s more unusual sights: a full-sized boat inspired by Sebago’s iconic Dockside boat shoe. Designed to resemble the classic shoe in its distinctive red, white and blue colourway, the vessel has been used as part of the brand’s anniversary celebrations in cities including Florence, Amsterdam, Paris and Milan before arriving in Turin.
Sebago creative director Marco Tamponi said the boat had originally been left in a warehouse outside London before the company decided to restore it with the help of Italian yacht builder Azimut Yachts.
“It’s literally a boat-shoe — a shoe-boat,” Tamponi said, describing it as one of the brand’s main assets for the anniversary campaign.
Rowing meets Ivy League style
The choice of Turin was closely linked to BasicNet, the Italian group that acquired Sebago in 2017. The company’s headquarters are located close to the Po, while Turin itself has a long rowing tradition, with several historic clubs operating along the river.
BasicNet co-CEO Lorenzo Boglione said the resurgence of collegiate and preppy fashion had created a natural connection with Sebago’s heritage.
“Sebago is rooted on the American East Coast: the colleges, the Ivy League universities,” he said.
The rowing competition reflected that connection, with teams from Oxford and Hamburg universities competing alongside crews representing the Bilbao School of Engineering, ESCP Business School in Paris and institutions from Florence, Rome and Bari. A youth team from Turin also took part.
The event drew crowds along the banks of the Po, while Sebago’s tournament crest was projected onto the Mole Antonelliana during the opening celebrations.
For Boglione, rowing was a natural sporting partner for a brand built around a combination of maritime heritage and collegiate style.
“Rowing is very elegant,” he said. “It embraces a lot of our values.”
Hamburg takes the title
The second edition of the Sebago Rowing Cup culminated in a close final over 500 metres, with Hamburg edging Oxford to claim the trophy.
Sebago said it plans to expand the event in the coming years, with the possibility of inviting American university teams to Turin to strengthen its links with the sport’s traditional US collegiate scene.
Boglione said the company hopes to turn the competition into a long-term tradition, potentially continuing for decades.
The rowing cup forms part of a broader programme marking Sebago’s eight decades in footwear, combining the brand’s New England heritage with its growing European identity.
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