- Kawhi debuted this new collection during the highly anticipated NBA Western Conference Semifinals.
- This collaboration reveals Kawhi’s personality through his favorite childhood candy, but even the famously happy Jolly Rancher fruit gang take on his all-business approach in this collection.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mary Lawton, New Balance PR
Anna Lingeris, Hershey PR
NEW BALANCE AND KAWHI LEONARD LAUNCH NEW JOLLY RANCHER COLLABORATION
Boston, MA October 20th, 2020 – Global athletic leader New Balance and 2019 NBA Finals MVP and Team New Balance Athlete Kawhi Leonard launch the next color of the KAWHI signature shoe, the New Balance KAWHI Jolly Rancher Collection. Kawhi debuted this new collection during the highly anticipated NBA Western Conference Semifinals. This collaboration reveals Kawhi’s personality through his favorite childhood candy, but even the famously happy Jolly Rancher fruit gang take on his all-business approach in this collection.
The KAWHI Jolly Rancher collaboration features two colors for the signature, in Original Flavors and Blue Raspberry. The Blue Raspberry color will be sold exclusively at New Balance and the Foot Locker family of brands, which includes Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, Eastbay and Footaction. In addition, this collection includes the top-selling 327 lifestyle silhouette as well as the 480 Low, the original New Balance Basketball model, both drawing from the long footwear heritage of the brand. The collection will also have a sport slide sandal and t-shirt assortment featuring the Jolly Rancher fruit gang design with Kawhi’s signature deadpan expression. The entire collection will be available on www.newbalance.com starting October 31st, with the suggested retail price ranging from $35 for the slide sandal to $160 for the KAWHI signature shoes.
The first color of the KAWHI, 4 Bounces, which launched last month, quickly sold out globally. The KAWHI signature is built around Kawhi’s power and versatility. It features Kawhi specific design elements like corn-row inspired embossing on the collar strap, his accolades on the top of the tongue, eyelets that resemble his 1964 classic car and a quilted heel tab that also pays homage to his ride. The heel also features an M and the latitude and longitude coordinates that locate the center of Moreno Valley, CA where Kawhi is from. In addition, the translucent and glossy material changes on this special colorway emulate the colors of the, anything but ordinary Jolly Rancher candy. The normally classic, smiley Jolly Rancher fruit gang take on Kawhi’s stone cold, focused mentality on the shoes tongue.
“Working closely with Kawhi on this collaboration infuses more of his personality into his signature collection and allows him to further showcase his style,” explained Jonathan Grondin, New Balance’s Design Director for Basketball “He wanted to ensure its design emulated the hard work he puts in on and off the court. I am excited to see this launch during the 2020 NBA playoffs while Kawhi continues to put his stamp on the game and culture.”
“Developing our first-ever shoe collaboration with Kawhi and the New Balance team has been a surreal experience,” said Shannon Wilkinson, brand manager, Jolly Rancher. “Collectively we were able to combine our absurdly, bold fruit flavors and our unmistakable fruit gang characters with Kawhi and New Balance to showcase a bold, unique and one-of-a-kind style in this collection. We’ve collaborated on some of the hottest footwear for the season and we can’t wait to wear them.”
The New Balance Kawhi Leonard Jolly Rancher collection is featured in the new NBA 2K21 game, for players to purchase at the in-game store and use on player avatars, making it available for virtual retail before the actual retail date.
About New Balance
New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. Manufactured in the U.S. for over 75 years and representing a limited portion of our U.S. sales, New Balance Made U.S. is a premium collection that contains a domestic value of 70% or greater. New Balance owns five factories in New England and one in Flimby, U.K. New Balance employs more than 6,000 associates around the globe, and in 2019 reported worldwide sales of $4.0 billion. To learn more about New Balance, please visitwww.newbalance.com and for the latest press information please visit http://newbalance.newsmarket.com.
About Hershey
Hershey, which celebrated its 125thanniversary in 2019, is headquartered inHershey, Pa., and is an industry-leading snacks company known for bringing goodness to the world through its iconic brands, remarkable people and enduring commitment to help children succeed. Hershey has approximately 16,500 employees around the world who work every day to deliver delicious, quality products. The company has more than 80 brands around the world that drive more than$7.8 billionin annual revenues, including such iconic brand names as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kit Kat®, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop, and Pirate’s Booty. For over 125 years, Hershey has been committed to operating fairly, ethically, and sustainably. Hershey’s founder,Milton Hershey, created theMilton Hershey Schoolin 1909 and since then the company hasfocused on helping children succeed.To learn more visit: www.thehersheycompany.com
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