Rabbit, the niche California running apparel company, becomes a footwear brand with the release of its first shoe, the rabbit Dream Chaser ($160) in full Boston Marathon livery, as the shoe will see its public launch during the expo at this month’s Boston Marathon.
Like its New England cousin Tracksmith and more recently lululemon, rabbit has made the unexpected pivot as an apparel company that becomes a shoe company, rather than a shoe company becoming a full apparel manufacturer, as we’ve seen with Hoka, On, Salomon, La Sportiva, and so many more.
The rabbit Dream Chaser. Photo: rabbit
Rabbit’s Background
It’s worth noting rabbit’s position in the market: The brand was founded in 2013 by two women, Jill Deering and Monica DeVreese, and has become one of the world’s largest independent running specialty apparel brands.
Rabbit co-founder Monica DeVreese with the brand’s debut shoe, the Dream Chaser. Photo: rabbit/Peter Young
Trail runners and ultrarunners will have long seen rabbit as a staple on the scene, with the brand supporting numerous well-known figures in the sport at one time or another, including Eric Senseman, Taylor Nowlin, Sandi Nypaver, Sabrina Little, Coree Woltering, and many more. Rabbit has been quick to pin itself on core concepts in the community like fastest known times, diversity and inclusion, and grassroots running team sponsorships.
Rabbit’s apparel has always been very high quality while being quirky and emphasizing fun. For example, their care labels have included the instruction, “don’t bleach, mmkay?” Their presence is like a love child between Goodr and Path Projects; silly and humorous but well-made and designed specifically for the needs of trail runners.
Rabbit has also focused nearly as much energy on road runners, emphasizing its Olympic Trials qualifiers — with the same grassroots road and track programs — as much as Western States 100 Golden Ticket seekers.
So why a running shoe from rabbit? DeVreese shares, “I fell in love with running when I was a 13-year-old girl. In high school, I was introduced to my local running store and basically became a gear junkie. After college, during my first job in a running store, I knew that someday, I wanted to own my brand. So after working in the footwear industry for three decades, designing a shoe has always been a dream for me. For rabbit, it’s a very natural extension of the brand. We’re so excited to offer an everyday trainer that can resonate with runners of all levels.”
Rabbit Dream Chaser
The rabbit Dream Chaser is described as a daily trainer with neutral characteristics. Two parallel carbon fiber ribbons, branded as Carbon Trax, run along the medial and lateral edges of the midsole rather than being a full or forked plate, as is found in other carbon-plated shoes.
The midsole itself is made of 85% recycled ETPU (expanded thermoplastic polyurethane) Flowstate Foam. This shoe also includes premium Blumaka insoles, which are said to add additional cushion and energy return.
The technology behind the rabbit Dream Chaser. Image: rabbit
In its press release, DeVreese says, “As we introduce our debut shoe, we set out to create something that would resonate with runners of all levels. Revealing a footwear breakthrough aimed at enhancing daily runs, we’re thrilled to unveil an everyday trainer infused with the exceptional performance of carbon fiber.”
Rabbit has been equitable in its approach to women’s and men’s apparel design needs in the past, bringing that same attention to the Dream Chaser. Rabbit says it started by first designing the Dream Chaser around a woman’s last before working on the men’s shoe.
Rabbit lists the shoe at 8.7 ounces for a U.S. women’s 7 and 10.2 ounces for U.S. men’s 9. The Dream Chaser has a 5-millimeter drop with stack heights of 32 millimeters in the heel and 27 millimeters in the toe.
The rabbit Dream Chaser is already available on rabbit’s website. Additional colorways will be released on Global Running Day, June 5, as well as for special collaborations and seasonal collections later this year.
Be on the lookout for more shoes from rabbit in the future. The brand shares with iRunFar that “the Dream Chaser is just our first step into the footwear category. We are definitely committed to building out the product line and offering more footwear options in the future.” And for the trail runners out there, know that “a trail shoe is currently in the works. It’s still early in the design phase, so timing is TBD, but we love the trail community and look forward to offering them footwear in the near future.”
The rear of a pair of rabbit Dream Chasers. Photo: rabbit
