Rupert and Buckley, the British-based student clothing brand, will be the Official Leisurewear Partner for The Cancer Research UK Boat Race 2018 - 2020.

The agreement will see Rupert and Buckley provide off-water leisurewear kit for the crew, umpires, volunteers and staff involved in the event. In addition, Rupert and Buckley has also developed a retail range which incorporates the new Boat Race logo and will be in shops and available online in early 2018.

Alex Newman, chief executive officer of Rupert and Buckley said: "The Rupert and Buckley team are absolutely over the moon about this new partnership and we're really excited to be working with The Cancer Research UK Boat Race over the next three years.

"Rupert and Buckley has rowing at its heart so it couldn't be a more perfect fit for us. We can't wait to reveal The Boat Race range and to get fully immersed in this wonderful British institution.

"This grassroots ethos of hard work and a good idea is what has grown the brand to this day. The Rupert and Buckley team are busy with lots of projects, from opening new sites across the UK within the wholesale market to launching five new stand-alone stores by the end of the year. To become The Cancer Research UK Boat Race leisurewear partner has made all the hard work worthwhile and given the team well-deserved recognition of how valuable their time and passion is to the company".

David Searle, Executive Director of The Boat Race Company, commented: "We are looking forward to working with Rupert and Buckley over the next three years. We approached them earlier this year because the company's ethos matched exactly what we were looking for in a new leisurewear partner. They have big plans for the partnership and it will be exciting for all involved".

Rupert and Buckley was founded by James Buckley Thorp, who had the idea of creating high quality socks for his university's rowing team with a vintage 80-needle hand-weaving machine. Soon the word, and socks, spread from town to town and in a week he had produced 500 pairs for five universities.

At this point the realisation of what had been created set in and the range expanded with the help of some of the country's most well-known clothing designers.

The Cancer Research UK Boat Race will take place on Saturday, 24th March, 2018. The Women's Boat Race will start at 16:31, with The Men's Boat Race an hour later at 17:31.