Junya Watanabe Tries a Trio of the New Balance AM574

Junya Watanabe’s strong love for New Balance is well-documented, as the Japanese designer has an expansive record of collaborations across a number of models. One particular style preferred by Watanabe is the 574, which he revisits here, but in a new configuration known as the AM574.

The AM574 takes the familiar 574 upper and grafts it to a low-profile rubber cupsole borrowed from court shoes. This practice has been done before in the NB canon, with the CT576, so the brand know what they’re doing – especially when working in tandem with the capable mind of Junya Watanabe. He plays this trio of AM574s in fairly understated – some would say safe – configurations of solid cream, green, and black suede and mesh colourways. There are some slightly more adventurous insertions of yellow and white on the green pair, making for an unlikely (and improbable) connection to Australia’s green ‘n’ gold livery. The other two pairs are fairly straightforward with their contrasting white accents on areas like the heel tab and midfoot N logo. Things take a fun turn on the midsole, where Junya places oversized branding that reads ‘JWCdGMAN’, which corresponds to J’unya Watanabe Comme des Garcons MAN’.

The Junya Watanabe x New Balance AM574 is available now from Dover Street Market.