The Rockport Company announced that a team of runners led by Andy Baldwin of “The Bachelor: An Officer and a Gentleman” fame will don DresSports 2 for the 2009 NYC Marathon.
First introduced in 1983, the classic DresSports are engineered with adidas performance inspiration. The marriage of athletic innovation in the bottom and sophisticated dress style in the upper carries through to today’s second generation: DresSports 2.
The company said Rockport has taken major steps to update the DresSports collection by making style and comfort the main focus. Each DresSports style weighs less than the average running shoe.
“The DresSports collection is an important part of Rockport's heritage and we are excited to update it for today’s consumer,” said Michael Rupp, Rockport CEO and president. “Our designers removed unnecessary materials and technologies to create one of the most comfortable, lightest weight dress shoes available on the market.”
The Rockport running team will be led by Baldwin who is a U.S Navy Lieutenant and tri-athlete, and is best known for his appearance on the 10th season of “The Bachelor”. Four of the runners will be running for ING’s “Run for Something Better” program through the Orange Laces campaign as a tie-in to a fundraising collaboration between ING and Rockport during the 2009 NYC marathon weekend.
The DresSports 2 collection includes four styles for men and is now available worldwide at premium department stores, independent retail stores, Rockport retail stores and on rockport.com.
