The Best of New Balance in 2024
It’s fair to say that 2024 has been another stellar year for . While big hitters like and had their fair share of fires to extinguish, the Boston-based brand took the last 12 months all in their stride, unfettered by trends, drama, and – thanks to their Made in USA and UK imprints – less affected by upcoming . That’s not to say that things have been boring though, as the dad shoe connoisseurs had their fun this year, whether that’s by lopping the top off the or coming together with collaborators to cook up some heater colour palettes.
The New Classic
It’s never easy to reinvent a classic, and though the first arrived last year, 2024 saw the silhouette really come into its own. The reworked 991 remained a choice silhouette for Stone Island, who dropped three colourways, while a seriously underrated colourway came in courtesy of Women’s director , who readied an ultra-limited ‘Matcha’-inspired pair at the beginning of the year. Throwing things back to the good ol’ days of sneaker hunting, NB also caught our attention with a , working with multiple independent retailers from across the globe to drop five collectable colourways that had OG NB fans salivating.
Pushin’ Into Performance
2024 was stacked with sporting events, and team NB made sure to turn up to them all. Although they may have missed out on the podium, the brand once again sponsored the London Marathon, dialling up the local efforts by running supplementary community runs and dropping exclusive colourways of their race day shoes. The running theme also continued in Paris, where NB teamed up with on an exclusive FuelCell SuperComp Elite v4. Elsewhere, put their spin on the , a football boot worn by Saka during the European Championships in Germany this summer. Rapper even flexed his athletic muscles as he put the work into his own performance-centric colabs, dropping both a shoe and a road-race-ready Rebel V4.
But it wasn’t just the product that carried NB up towards the top of the sports brand league – they followed through with some major athlete wins, too. Alongside accolades from an already-stacked list that included the likes of Cameron Brink, and Endrick, NB’s roster of Olympic athletes also brought home medals in track and triathlon at the .
1906R Loafer
The New Balance may have been one of the most polarising models of the year, but there’s no denying it was a fashion moment. Debuting at the FW24/25 show at in January, the 1906R shocked everyone as it went topless, arriving in a loafer-style silhouette thanks to designer Charlotte Lee. Originally hitting the runway in fittingly formal black and white leather versions, it wasn’t long before NB dropped a silver, mesh-based pair, cementing the loafer’s legacy within the brand’s mainline offering. The NB loafer isn’t for everyone, but it’s a great example of a brand being willing to listen to fresh opinions and celebrate their designers’ creativity.
Loro Piana’s Quiet Luxury NB990v6
High-low link-ups are nothing new, but New Balance brought a new luxury contributor into the fold with their collaboration with . An OG old-money fine fabric house and purveyor of the quiet luxury trend, Loro Piana weaved their magic on the to create a colab that’d have Succession’s Kendall Roy ditching his beloved Tom Fords in favour of them. Made in the USA with super luxe Italian materials that included wool from LP’s own specially-bred sheep, the resulting Loro Piana NB990v6 ended up retailing for a staggering $1500 and was available exclusively at the label’s boutique stores.
NB1500 35th Anniversary and Made in Japan Release
The is one of the models that has achieved cult classic status, and as 2024 rolled round, so did the silhouette’s 35th anniversary. However, the celebrations this year were somewhat glazed over as newer models took up much of the limelight. That doesn’t mean the NB1500 went completely unnoticed though, as some great editions quietly hit the sneaker shelves. Among them was an ultra-clean, Made in UK speciality version, which arrived fresh outta Flimby in a timeless, reworked grey and navy colour palette, as well as an exclusive, Made in Japan edition that came decked out in premium materials and dropped alongside three indigo-dyed versions given to lucky rewards program members.
Collaborations Keep on Coming
Team NB still has one of the strongest collaborative rosters going right now, and their brand partners kept the big hitters coming over the past 12 months. Early on in the year, ushered in the return of the , before Kith gave the style a run out in October. also stayed active, dropping his gargantuan at the start of the year, before rounding things out with his and teasing . The 1906R got a lot of love, with Action Bronson, , and even all dropping iterations of the silhouette. Another meshy runner, the also saw some stellar renditions thanks to Aimé Leon Dore, and . Finally, rounded out the year by bringing the retro back with a bang, dropping the ‘BTEEZ’ pair, which came in brazen blue and orange hues, and Aimé Leon Dore revved up a luxe-looking to celebrate their own Porsche colab.
Want more from our end-of-year round-ups? Head to see what else caught our attention.