CHANEL J12 is taking its partnership with The Boat Race into new territory, creating a pair of trophies that will be lifted for the first time by the winning Oxford and Cambridge crews in 2027.
The two trophies mark a first for the French House, representing the first sporting silverware ever designed by CHANEL. Their arrival also coincides with a major moment in the history of the competition, as 2027 marks 100 years since the inaugural Women’s Boat Race took place in 1927.
Designed by Arnaud Chastaingt, Director of CHANEL’s Watch Creation Studio, the trophies bring the visual language of the House into one of Britain’s longest-running sporting traditions. Instead of completely abandoning the familiar shape of sporting silverware, Chastaingt has reworked its proportions, placing a streamlined silver trophy within a graphic rectangular structure.
Naturally, black and white play a central role. The Women’s trophy is surrounded by a polished white frame with matte black detailing, while the Men’s version switches to polished black. Both reference the monochrome identity of CHANEL’s J12 watch, while a gold-plated silver medallion sits at the centre of each design. The two trophies are equal in size and have also been engineered with the winning crews in mind, making them comfortable to hold during the post-race celebrations.
Turning the designs into physical objects was a project in itself. CHANEL J12 worked with British goldsmiths and silversmiths Thomas Lyte, with development spanning almost two years and more than 320 hours of workshop craftsmanship.
The trophies arrive as CHANEL J12 enters the third year of its role as Title Sponsor and Official Timekeeping Partner of the annual Oxford-Cambridge race. For the Women’s Race centenary, the traditional running order will also change. The Men’s Boat Race will begin at 15:40, before the Women’s crews take centre stage at 16:40 on the Championship Course.
That centenary carries particular significance considering how different the competition looked in 1927. Oxford and Cambridge’s women were initially prevented from racing directly against one another, instead completing separate runs that were judged according to both speed and style. Women’s rowing would not enter the Olympic Games until another 50 years later.
More than a century after Oxford and Cambridge first competed on the Thames in 1829, the 2027 edition will therefore connect several different chapters of the event’s history: 100 years of the Women’s Race, another year of CHANEL J12’s involvement and, for the first time, two completely new trophies waiting at the finish line.
