You Wish You Could Ride the Aimé Leon Dore Boat
We all know that Aimé Leon Dore is perpetually interested in high-powered luxury vehicles, its ongoing Porsche partnerships are proof. But ALD is finally stepping off the pavement and into the ocean with the debut of its first boat.
The Aimé Leon Dore x Technohull 38 Grand Sport boat is exactly what it sounds like. An elegant remix of a conventional luxury boat with ALD codes, the collaborative 37 Grand Sport boat is rich with special details.
Features include a special "Chestnut Green" paintjob, hand-applied vinyl ALD logos, embroidered leather seats, and gilded hardware to reiterate the air of opulence.
Like the Porsche collaborations, Aimé Leon Dore's Technohull boat is not for you, the normal ALD fan. Unlike the Porsche collaborations, the world's richest ALD fans can actually buy this thing: the ALD boat will cost you $500,000.
Either way, you may soak it in from a distance and subsequently peruse the accompanying "offshore collection," comprising ample Aimé Leon Dore staples like reversible nylon hats, knit pullover sweaters, and windbreakers all well-suited to outfitting yacht-goers.
The boat may not be for you but the collection certainly is. This is classic ALD, offering up aspirational, exclusive iconography and a comparatively approachable wearables for fans seeking to buy into the ALD universe.
This technique has informed plenty of Aimé Leon Dore's output, from its sneaker drops — frequently debuted in campaign imagery populated by tastemakers — to its stylized storefronts, which present a highly curated vision of what the ALD consumer ought to epitomize.
This technique of semi-attainable aspiration is also practiced by Aimé Leon Dore peers like KITH, which present their seasonal collections (which you can have) atop celebrities affecting a graceful lifestyle in luxury villas or atop pricey cars (which you cannot have).
Not that ALD doesn't do anything for its community, mind you, or that anyone's unhappy to cop more New Balance 550s but the point of fanciful ventures like the ALD x Technohull boat is to demonstrate a life of leisure and luxury, one that the average consumer may not be able to indulge in but is able to at least partially buy into by consuming ALD's clothing.
Luxury labels have done this for decades but labels like Aimé Leon Dore have really mastered the art of proffering this presentation to the masses. You cannot drive the ALD boat but perhaps you can imagine yourself in the captain's chair when you wear your ALD bucket hat and hoodie.