From socks-less boat shoes to hip watches

MANILA, Philippines - Sometime in the ‘90s, top-siders were for dads. Now that entire look — khaki walking shorts, a striped, collared tee and socks-less boat shoes — which was back then unironically normcore, is back as a stylish way of dressing, interpreted in different ways but always bearing its core characteristics of lightness, ease and functionality.

Recently, Sperry Top-Sider launched its line of watches inspired by their authentic, original boat shoe. The new line of watches was first launched early this year in North America, and the Philippines is the first to launch the line in Asia.

“The watch line takes off from the footwear. First we have the well-loved leathers, they all look like they’ve been worn in. That’s in line with the modern-vintage hip aesthetic of Sperry. At the same time the watches have Sperry elements like the skip lace, which you’ll also find in the footwear. The back of the dial features the texture found on the Sperry sole. We also have modern all-gold or rose gold watches,” says Linfred Yap, managing director of Urban Time, sole distributor of Sperry. Other details taken from the Authentic Original Boat Shoe are the dial’s Razor Siping texture and well-known Boat in the Box logo while the straps are made from Sperry’s “well-loved” leathers, accentuated by Sperry Top-Sider grommets, skip-lace straps and top-stitching. Other design elements such as the Compass Rose Crown, luminescent hands and applied indexes are inspired by vintage nautical aesthetics.

Sperry was founded by Paul Sperry, who came from a family with a long sea-faring tradition, in 1935 during one of his adventures out at sea. The sailing enthusiast and inventor reportedly observed how his dog ran across wet surfaces without slipping, inspiring the creation of Sperry Top-Sider, the world’s first boat shoe known for its traction and performance. “In gratitude to our loyal Sperry fans, we’re bringing in the watch collection for them to embrace the seagoing lifestyle beyond the broad spectrum of footwear that we offer,” says Yap. “Sperry is very modern-preppy. It’s very current but it also has a lot of throwback elements. They look like watches that your dad or mom used to wear and are now back in style.”

* * *

Sperry’s timepiece collection has 42 watches, evenly split for men and women, available at selected SM Department Stores for P6,380.