“The world’s greatest spectacle of food, fashion, cocktails and thoroughbreds,” said Mark Bacon, svp and marketing managing director of Woodford Reserve. “Our Derby partnership is a key strategy that helps make Woodford Reserve the top-selling super-premium American whiskey in the world.”
Old Forester, meanwhile, returns with both its standard mint julep and a French Mint Julep with a hint of black raspberry.
Homme+Femme
This 10-year-old Los Angeles streetwear brand steeps its offerings in nostalgia, but does its homework on their history.
Drew Evans, the Homme+Femme’s owner and design director, brought his brand to the Derby for the first time in 2022 and immersed himself in the culture of Churchill Downs and Louisville itself. He dove into the lineage of African-American horsemen and used this year’s line to tell the story of the African-American community’s impact on the Derby.
“Seeing the reaction to year one gives my team and I so much confidence as we head into the 149th race,” he said. “Being invited back by Churchill Downs and the Derby is a blessing and I don’t take it for granted.”
Evans took his time at the event to better understand the Derby and its culture and to “find our common ground.” The letterman jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, hats and blazers draw their palate from the Derby’s official logo, and Evans notes that the spectrum of this year’s insignia gave him a lot more to work with as he tweaked designs and branding.
“I would best describe it as southern hospitality mixed with church folks Sunday best attire and kids wanting to show off their outfits on the first day of school,” he said.
Evans noted that being among the 50 or so Derby sponsors for the second-straight year has given him and his team more confidence and increases the brand’s ability to share the African-American community’s Derby history. Aside from being a source of pride, it also brings Homme+Femme into a circle of aspirational luxury brands that helps make Churchill downs “a world of its own on that first Friday and Saturday of May.”
BMW North America
After showcasing its 7 Series and its all-electric i7 at the Derby in 2022, BMW returns this year with a little more under the hood. Marcus Casey, vice president of marketing for BMW North America, noted that it’s a lot easier to sell a premium automobile like the all-electric BMW iX “sports activity vehicle” when people have a chance to see and experience it up close.