IWC Launches Its New Portofino 37 with Public School at the Nomad Hotel

by Paige Reddinger

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Luxury Swiss watch brand, IWC, unveiled its new Portofino 37 watch yesterday at The Nomad Hotel with Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School. The new collection is specifically for women, which is a bit of a first for the predominately male watch brand. Women, of course, have been sporting IWC’s men’s watches for quite sometime now. According to IWC’s North American brand president Edouard d’Arbaumont, 25 percent of IWC’s watches are already sold to women. Now the brand is launching a line for its female clientele.

“I’m sure you’ve heard our headline ‘IWC is engineered for men.’ It’s true that the roots of the brand are technical, well-crafted watches for men, but over time our watches have been increasingly appreciated by women,” d’Arbaumont told guests. “Today we are happy to launch the Portofino 37 collection, because it’s an opportunity to have a smaller watch for a smaller wrist.”

The Public School boys, who have had a relationship with IWC since 2013 having shown the watches on their runway each season, were on hand to celebrate and promote the new line. “We were wearing IWC before we even met with IWC so it was kind of like a dream come true,” Osborne told The Daily. “You know we did a collaboration with the Knicks in the past, so it’s kind of like having a love affair with a brand and then actually getting to do something with them. Eugene Tong was the one that actually introduced us formally to the brand. It was just a match made in heaven.”

IWC and Public School share more than their love for watches in common. Both brands started out in menswear and found themselves venturing into the women’s market. “When you think about it, Public School, you started out a little bit like us,” d’Arbaumont said to Chow and Osborne. “You were first famous for your menswear collection and now you are famous with your womenswear collection.” The design duo was sporting their own IWC Portuguese watches at the event. To promote the new line, Public School did a series of three videos (#IWCxPS) to promote the three categories of Portofino 37: Nighttime Cool, Sporty Elegance, and Professional Chic. Check them out below to discover the synergy between the two brands and stay tuned for a possible product collab between IWC and Public School in the future…

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y55cePcNwIQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5_FtBzw4E8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-7_SAI5aRE

 

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