A fast team. Photo credit: Marcel Hilger
We proudly present: The NORBOYS collection
It's no secret how proud and happy we are that Kristian Blummenfelt and Gustav Iden have been part of the INCYLENCE team since this year. To coincide with the launch of the first NORBOYS collection, we want to tell you how the collaboration came about and what the names "Tjommi" and "Vinne" mean.
It was clear to us that we wanted to become more active on the international market this year and ideally sponsor a team. The two Norwegians came along at just the right time.
But how did we actually get in touch? Last year, while Max and I were at Challenge Roth, the ITU race was taking place in Hamburg, where Kristian and Gustav were also competing. One of our saleswomen in Hamburg then sent us a picture of the two Norboys holding the Curls Tricolore socks. On the way back from Roth, Gustav sent us a training video in which he was wearing the socks and exclaiming something like, "These socks are amazing!" into the camera. That was it!
We are world champions!
Before the 70.3 World Championships in Nice, Gustav was probably only known to insiders, while Kristian, due to his 70.3 world record and major sponsorship deals, was already known to a wider audience. Discussions about a collaboration began even before the World Championships, which is why we, as enthusiastic Norway fans, followed the race. However, the final negotiations only took place after Gustav's World Championship victory.
Sweat and fun during the filming of our videos. Photo credit: Marcel Hilger
After Alex visited Bergen, the hometown of the two boys, at the beginning of the year, and we officially announced the collaboration, we received a lot of positive feedback. However, we were also repeatedly asked why we sponsor short-distance triathletes who don't wear socks during races anyway. That's certainly a valid question, but our intention wasn't to have them constantly and obsessively hold their socks up to the camera. We wanted to bring athletes onto our team whose personalities fit with ours. Athletes who don't take themselves too seriously, but who are still fully committed to performance and team spirit.
Let's get to the colors!
Together with the guys, we decided on four different designs. It was important to us that the designs suited both us and the guys. True to the INCYLENCE DNA, we're playing with geometric and dynamic elements in this collection as well, remaining 100% authentic. The colors and some of the shapes are inspired by the Norwegian flag. The short TRIATHLON socks are called "Vinne," which means victory in Norwegian. The long version, called "Tjommi," which means buddy, evokes a sense of belonging. When you wear these socks, you should feel like you're one of Kristian and Gustav's Tjommi. The RUNNING socks are called NORBOYS Long and NORBOYS Short, which, combined with the Norwegian names, creates a really cool mix. Overall, we're super happy to have the guys on our team and to be able to present the first NORBOYS collection to you.
Discussions about the Norboys designs with Alex. Photo credit: Marcel Hilger
They feel good. Photo credit: Marcel Hilger
Norboys are happy, we're happy, everyone's happy. Photo credit: Marcel Hilger