Inside P448’s New Formula 1 Collab With Red Bull-Owned Scuderia AlphaTauri
Italian footwear brand P448 has inked a new partnership deal with Red Bull-owned Formula 1 team Scuderia AlphaTauri.
Under the terms of the collaboration, P448 has created the “official team travel shoe” for AlphaTauri’s entire crew, team and drivers.
Designed along with the Italian racing team, P448’s “John” sneaker style was chosen for the collab and features a black heel tab finished with an Italian flag detail and grey laces. Made in Italy, the sneaker is also notably produced with recycled leather, recycled cotton laces and recycled midsole, tread and outsole.
“For us as a brand, this partnership is an honor because Formula 1 is such a legendary part of life in the region of Italy our companies are both headquartered,” Wayne Kulkin, founder and executive chairperson of P448’s parent company StreetTrend, told FN on a Zoom call on Wednesday.
Kulkin added that P448 has made less than 50 pairs that were made available to the public. Since then, the collab has sold out online, and the brand released a second drop. “We look forward to future drops soon,” Kulkin said.
To mark the occasion and the official launch of the collaboration, P448 is hosting a party with Scuderia AlphaTauri drivers Pierre Gasley and Yuki Tsunoda on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan ahead of the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.
For Tsunoda, who joined Kulkin on Wednesday’s Zoom call, the new collaboration is a chance to represent the team outside of the typical team kit. “I wear these shoes a lot of times, even outside of racing,” Tsunoda told FN.
In fact, Tsunoda liked these shoes so much, he just created his own custom pair of shoes with P448 featuring his own racing logo. “I’ve never had a pair of my own customized shoes, so I can’t wait to wear them.”
Kulkin, the former CEO of Stuart Weitzman, launched StreetTrend LLC in 2017 in a joint venture partnership with Jeffrey B. Hecktman, CEO of the international financial services firm Hilco Global.
In 2018, StreetTrend acquired a 30% stake in P448. Prior to this deal, Kulkin had signed an exclusive distribution and marketing agreement with P448 in 2017. Then in Oct. 2020, StreetTrend outright bought the made-in-Italy footwear brand from NoThanks SpA for an undisclosed sum.
In March, actor and model Mark Wahlberg became a strategic investor in the company having taken a significant minority stake in the business. P448 has since opened stores in Paris, New York City and Miami.