Toronto runner designs own Boston Marathon jacket
When race kit designer Richard Kuchinsky didn't love this year's Boston Celebration Jacket, he decided to design one himself
When the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) released the design for this year’s Boston Marathon Celebration jacket, it was met with mixed reviews. Some liked it, some hated it and most people thought it was “fine.” At least, that’s the response Toronto runner and designer Richard Kuchinsky saw from his running friends. So what did he do? He designed one of his own.
As an industrial designer, Kuchinsky started designing running gear and racing kits long before he became a runner. Inspired by the people he was meeting in the industry, he finally decided to lace up his running shoes back in 2012 and has been a fixture in the Toronto running community ever since. As each iteration of the Boston Celebration Jacket came out year after year, he thought to himself “the running community deserves better.”
“To me, the Boston Marathon racing jacket is just kind of behind the times,” says Kuchinsky. “Every year when it comes out, I see people’s first thoughts on Instagram and they always say something like ‘well, it’s OK. It’s not the worst.'” He adds that the jacket is never old or “retro” enough to be cool, but never new enough to be up-to-date with current tastes and trends.
Kuchinsky also points out that when runners get their BQ (Boston qualifier) and they get notified of their acceptance, there’s so much excitement, and he believes the Celebration jacket should reflect that level of excitement. So, like any good designer, Kuchinsky decided to design one himself.
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“I just thought I’d quickly do a concept,” he says. “I was thinking about it on a run the day after the real one was released, so I mocked one up, more as an illustration of my thoughts on it. It was more of a practical exercise than an apparel design.” In other words, no — you can’t actually purchase Kuchinsky’s version of the Boston Marathon jacket (sorry to disappoint).
Kuchinsky says he took a more graphic brand approach when designing his jacket, and tried to better integrate what Boston is with Adidas as a brand. “The current jacket just looks like an Adidas jacket that you buy from anywhere with different colours of logos stitched onto it,” he says. “So I tried to integrate that with the three stripes down the sleeve, so it has the Adidas look but it says Boston Marathon.”
For the rest of the design, he says he was just trying to achieve something that was a little more contemporary and fresh. He also made it with what he calls “more wearable” colours, because he finds the colour scheme is often the biggest pain point among runners. “The whole point of the jacket is to show people that you ran the Boston Marathon, so why not have a little more fun with it and make it a little bolder?” he says.
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When asked if he would be purchasing this year’s Boston Marathon jacket, Kuchinsky, who qualified for the 2022 race, laughed. Then, he said, “Yes, I probably will.” It is the Boston Marathon, after all.
So while we won’t be seeing Kuchinsky’s design on the racks just yet, his goal is to have the opportunity to design a World Major Marathon jacket in the future, so you just might be able to get your hands on a limited edition Kuchinsky celebration jacket one day. In the meantime, you can follow along with his projects on his company’s Instagram page, Directive Collective.
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