Charlie McAvoy ‘Honored’ To Join Sneaker Community With Debut Release
BOSTON — Charlie McAvoy isn’t best known for sporting flashy footwear before taking the ice, but the 26-year-old Bruins defenseman has now joined the ever-growing sneaker community.
In collaboration with Dan Gamache, better known as “Mache Customs,” McAvoy released a debut player-exclusive edition of the Mache Runner. The Bruins-themed kicks hit the shelves Sunday at Boston’s Concepts store, giving McAvoy a chance to get first-hand impressions from fans who lined up hours ahead to get their hands on a pair.
“This was a cool opportunity for me to kind of step into the (sneaker) space and learn what Mache was about,” McAvoy told NESN.com. “For me, I like to try and have some nice stuff in the closet but this was a new chance for me to learn some more about the shoe game and how it works.”
Generally, footwear attached to specific athletes has been reserved for those of the NBA like Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Bo Jackson helped bridge that gap between sneaker connoisseurs and the NFL in 1988, as did Ken Griffey Jr. shortly after (in 1996) in MLB. However, this hasn’t been the case with NHL players, who typically enter arenas sporting suits and ties before lacing up their skates.
McAvoy, who isn’t the biggest of sneakerheads, was thrilled to partake in merging the two communities.
“All the collaborations before mostly (have been) in the NFL and NBA space. Never would’ve thought that it could cross over to the NHL,” McAvoy explained. “So I feel honored to be a part of this and to bring this and be able to share this with people.”
Boston’s roster isn’t filled with sneaker enthusiasts, but McAvoy might have some locker room credibility now. McAvoy listed David Pastrnak and Matt Grzelcyk as the teammates with the best sneaker game.
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The project itself was no issue for Mache, who’s collaborated with Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs, the Chicago White Sox and the WWE.
McAvoy’s edition of the Mache Runner features obvious inspirations of other thick-soled sneakers like the Nike Sacai VaporWaffle and multi-panel casual wear kicks like the Saucony Grid Shadow 2. Adding a Bruins-centric spin to McAvoy’s pair, Mache added a handful of features, including a black speckled midsole and McAvoy’s No. 73.
“When I went into the process of designing the shoe, I didn’t wanna make a generic novelty sports team shoe because not everybody’s a Bruins fan. So I wanted to design a shoe that’s appealing to people that aren’t just in the Boston area,” Gamache told NESN.com. “Like someone that could be in Pittsburgh or a WuTang fan, like whatever can appeal to the shoe. And then obviously just doing nods to the 73 on the heel for Charlie is a throwback to the Wayne Gretzky shoes from back in the day.”
After Boston’s record-setting 65-win regular season last year, Mache and McAvoy connected with an initial release date set during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Concepts, founded in 1996 in Cambridge, Mass., has been a staple for Boston’s sneaker culture scene. The brands collaborated with Allen Iverson, Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum while rolling out a handful of Boston-themed sneakers throughout the years. Very rarely would the Concepts storefront be packed with Bruins fans, much less for a pair of sneakers.
“It’s great to see a hockey player get recognition and be able to have a shoe release,” lifelong Bruins fan Matthew Keller told NESN.com. “Historically, hockey players are great dressers. When it comes to suits, the (Arizona) Coyotes were the first team a few years back to relax dress codes and allow players not to wear suits to games, But players aren’t at the level of dressing like basketball and football players. In time hopefully, a national brand like Nike, Adidas, New Balance, Puma, etc will sign a hockey player, but this is a good first step.”
McAvoy might’ve entered unfamiliar territory, but years down the line, this may not be the case for fellow NHL players for very long as the sneaker community continues to rapidly expand.