The Rise Of New Balance: A New Era in Sneaker Culture
New Balance.
The ultimate dad shoe has now become a Gen Z favorite.
When I was younger, New Balances weren’t that high in the shoe pantheon — they usually fell behind Air Forces, shell-toe Adidas, Timbs, etc., so seeing them sell out at raffles is a bit surreal.
It also begs the question of HOW?
How did New Balance make its ascent in culture? Why Now? Who’s responsible for it?
From here, I’m pretty sure y’all know where this piece goes. We’re about to answer all of these outstanding questions.
Let’s bring some balance, to new balance! (Get it? Thank you, I’m here once a week)
The Origins
The year was 1906.
In Boston, Massachusetts, a young immigrant named Willie J. Riley noticed while looking at the chickens in his backyard that although they had only 3 claws, their feet had a perfect arch. I don’t know what he was smoking in 1906, but yea, apparently he noticed that.
Upon making this realization, Willie set out to make his first flexible arch insert to help people dealing with arch issues in their shoes. Fast forward to 1938, the first New Balance sneaker was created.
New Balance would go on from its humble beginning to achieve success in the 50s & 60s - so much success that it attracted the eye of businessman Jim Davis who eventually bought the brand in 1972.
When Jim bought New Balance, he paid $10,000 for it, and New Balance only had 6 employees who made an average of 30 shoes a day. However, under his leadership, New Balance has grown to over $4 Billion in annual sales, and its coveted releases are flying off the shelves.
The ‘Dad Shoe’ Made a Comeback in 2018
Y’all know what dad shoes are. If not, think of sneakers that are chunky & super comfortable. They have a kind of retro look to them which is why Gen Z likes them, but for a long time, they were a bottom-tier choice for anyone into sneaker culture.
However, in 2018, an odd & unexpected shift occurred. All of sudden searches for “dad shoes” started to creep up on Google:
Gen Z’s affinity for nostalgia had finally made its way to bulky sneakers, and when paired with the increased popularity in “boost” technology, brands were inspired to bring slew of new (and old) dad shoes to the market. This included shoes from Nike, Adidas, Gucci, Raf Simons, and of course, New Balance.
The 992’s Got a Highly Requested Refresh
A huge factor in New Balance’s resurgence is likely their partnerships with key figures in culture (some intended, and some by accident).
Ask yourself… Who crosses your mind when you say New Balance?
If you’re a Gen X’er, it’s Steve Jobs.
Jobs was known to wear New Balance 991s during Apple Keynotes (including the one that featured the very first iPhone). It was part of his trademark look: turtleneck, jeans, and dad shoes.
Rumors even say that Steve Jobs helped inspire the 992s (the first running performance shoe priced at $100) by sending a sketch of the silhouette to Jim Davis of New Balance when he asked for input on what the sneaker should be like.
Different folks (and publications) have different versions of the events, but what is clear is that Jobs was the first hero of New Balance, and give that as we all use his products, it's safe to say that part of Gen Z’s affinity is because of the legendary co-founder of Apple.
Jobs was synonymous with the New Balance 991s & 992s and he’s the reason they got re-released in 2020. He’s just the first in a line of people who contributed to the popularity of New Balance though, so let’s dig a little deeper…
Unlikely Partnerships Created a Cultural Movement
Though dad shoes were back in style, New Balance still needed a way to create conversation around their brand. Because of that, in 2019, they embarked on a series of partnerships that would change their trajectory for years to come.
With the world of performance shoes saturated and the dad shoe making a comeback, they decided to pivot into streetwear to make inroads with Gen Z. In short, it paid off.
New Balance x ALD
The first in the series of New Balance partnerships hit the market were a series of shoes from Aimé Leon Dore (ALD for short) - a fashion line created by Teddy Santis in 2014.
Teddy was already making waves in the world of streetwear with his streetwear line and the help of his friend Ronnie Fieg (Founder of Kith), who pushed him to start ALD.
By 2015, Teddy/ALD had a sneaker collab under his belt with Puma. However, after reevaluating where he wanted to go creatively with ALD’s sneaker line, he opted not to revisit the world of sneakers for a few years.
Then New Balance reached out
By 2018, ALD was already selling out, and their esteem amongst hipsters and hype beasts couldn’t be denied. And, with “dad shoes” making a comeback with Gen Z’ers, Teddy knew that a partnership with New Balance made perfect sense.
The pair would eventually release their first sneaker collaboration in 2019 using the iconic 997 silhouettes. As part of the collaboration, Teddy had out-of-home ads designed in the style of the original advertisements from the early 80s, even going as far as to include the original New Balance tagline “The Intelligent Choice” (seen below)
The ALD x New Balance collaborations have all sold out, and NB doubled down on their relationship with Teddy by making him the creative director of New Balance. To date, if you check resell sites for the collabs they’re upwards of $200. The brand known for selling sensible & comfortable running shoes for less than $100 was now in a new category: fashion
There was also a Guy From Chicago…
While experiencing the success of the ALD collaborations with Teddy Santis, the New Balance team knew they had stumbled upon something great that they needed to continue. A new generation of fashion-forward youth was championing their shoes, and Joe Grondin, head of collaborations, decided it was time to double down.
Around the fashion community, there was another figure whose work often took over social media timelines and appeared on stars. He had collaborations with Mcdonald’s and The Red Sox, and he was a pillar in his local community. New Balance reached out to him about making his own line of sneakers. That person was none of than:
Joe Fresh Goods
Joe, a creative from Chicago, had been making a name for himself in Chicago for some time with his brand Don’t Be Mad and his now defunct brand “Fat Tiger.”
He’d also created clothing collections that were met with huge fanfare like the "F**K Donald” t-shirt that he launched after Trump was elected & the “Thank U Obama” collection in 2017 following that. Both of which can be seen being worn by SZA, and Chance the Rapper, respectively.
With a strong background in streetwear, Joe’s partnership with New Balance gave even more credibility in the fashion world, and their first collaboration — a custom 990v3 that came with an apparel collection called “Outside Clothes.”
The collection performed so well that New Balance made Joe Fresh Goods creative director for his own collection:
‘Conversations Amongst Us’
Conversations was built around Black Culture and included features from stars like Storm Reid and Kawhi Leonard. Joe even partnered with New Balance’s employee-le group of Black creators ‘Black-Soles” to work on the website. If that wasn’t dope enough, he added a philanthropic aspect to his collection by bringing in his non-profit Community Goods.
In fact, to gain entry to a raffle for his 993 New Balance collab he required a school supply donation be made to help support local schools.
Just like the collabs with ALD, the Joe Fresh Goods collaborations were met with high acclaim and high prices on the resell market. New Balance had doubled down on fashion, and it was a bet that paid off yet again.
And Today, They’re Still Selling Out
“Over the past 12 to 18 months New Balance has become the new go-to sneaker for both the sneakerheads and the general consumer alike," which has resulted in sales rising by over 100 percent since 2021. - Sally Scott, CEO of Klekt
Joe Grondin & the team at New Balance are continuing their run of limited edition collabs - the most recent of which are the Salehe Bembury New Balances (I missed out on those, but it’s all good). Salehe also deserves credit for the resurgence of New Balance too.
Nevertheless, with this new direction, I imagine that New Balance's future is bright. Only time will tell, but the 4-year run they’ve been on has been great to watch.
If you got a plug on some of the Joe Fresh releases, holla at me.
Peace.