New Balance & Danner Honor Portland With American-Made Footwear
“The American Pioneer Project” draws inspiration from the “Portland Penny.”
Danner and New Balance, two American footwear companies, join for a collaborative effort saluting Portland and New England history. Taking cues from the “Portland Penny” legend, the pair debuted a set of complementary shoes.
The story goes that Asa Lovejoy of Boston and Portland, Maine’s Francis Pettygrove flipped a penny to decide who got to name the land that became Portland, Oregon. Pettrygrove won the toss and the coin became known as the “Portland Penny.” Danner and New Balance drew inspiration from the event for the collaboration, which lead to a set of earth-toned footwear. A pair of New Balance 995s and Danner Mountain Light Pioneers feature premium brown nubuck, oxidized copper hardware and an embossed image of the state in which each shoe was crafted — Maine and Oregon, respectively.
Check out a detailed look at the shoes in the video below, and shop the pair on Danner’s website. For more earth-toned boots, check out the recent PORTER and Timberland collaboration.
