Interview @ NB Real Ale Event

As part of the global launch for the New Balance Real Ale Pack, we had the opportunity to interview some of the New Balance Team, so of course, we were going to take them up on this. It’s not every day that you get the chance to do this, so it was a no brainer.

These guys have an absolute wealth of knowledge and are all but happy to share it with us, so this interview is quite long and in depth, but we thoroughly enjoyed being part of it, and all of the responses to the questions are particularly excellent.

I hope you enjoy reading the interview as much as we did giving it.

New Balance Real Ale Event

The last Wednesday of July, as NB Gallery, we headed to Cockermouth, a town in Cumbria, England, for the official global launch of the New Balance Real Ale Pack, and boy was it good. The hospitality over the few days that we were there was absolutely faultless, big big shout to all those involved for nailing the event.

The plan was to arrive in Cockermouth and check into the Allerdale Court Hotel, easily one of the nicest hotels I’ve stayed in – rooms, bar, breakfast, and staff all excellent, and in the perfect spot in this lovely Lake District town. Fashionably late, we arrived, checked in, and were greeted by a NB Welcome Pack filled with goodies, such as a pair of the Real Ale CT300’s, beer mats, ale, NB USB, and our intinerary for the next few days.

NB Gallery @ SoleBloc

For the SoleBloc event in Glasgow on August 1st 2015, with New Balance Gallery being official sponsors, we decided to create a showcase of New Balance footwear, along with various pieces of New Balance memorabilia.

Our aim was to have something for everyone, covering all things New Balance, with 250+ pairs, from vintage models, to collaborations, to the most recent releases. There was to be many shoes on display from some of New Balance’s most well know collaboration partners, such as the complete set of Hanon Shop shoes, and shoes from Solebox, SNS, and Crooked Tongues, as well as never before seen samples.

We never anticipated that our exhibit would turn out the way it did when we started setting up on Friday, but we are extremely happy with the outcome, and with the reaction of those who attended the event.

New Balance x hanon shop samples

Following on from the NB Gallery exhibition at SoleBloc, we were lucky enough to have a full collection of hanon shop’s collaborations with New Balance, which also included a number of samples which never had been seen before by people outside of hanon and NB.

This opportunity was too good to waste, so I have taken a number of images, which also includes comparison shots with the released pairs, and detailed shots of some differences.

A huge thanks to Ed @ hanon, for lending me the samples for the exhibition.

New Balance 577NIO Sample vs Released Comparison –

The differences between the Night Owl sample and the released pair are:

• Perforated ‘N’ on sample pair.
• Contrast stitching on sample pair.
• C-Cap midsole on sample pair rather than Encap midsole.

New Balance 990HSN1 Sample vs 990HSN Released –

There is only one difference between these two pairs, and that’s the use of the golden colour on the sample, rather than the orange used on the released.

New Balance 670 Ventile Sample –

Now, this shoe is my favourite sample from the lot, and it might actually be one of my favourite shoes I’ve ever had in hand. It is unreal, even these images don’t do it justice.

As you know, hanon release two Ventile shoes as part of the ‘Flying Club Pack’, and this pair was a sample from that run, but as you can see, it has a number of differences, such as the big grey suede ‘N’, the use of nubuck on the upper, and grey midsole.

New Balance 576 Bionic Prototypes –

New Balance and hanon came together with Eschler to create two shoes as part of the ‘Bionic Majors’, but if these samples are anything to go by, it seems like they had a lot of messing around before arriving at the released pairs. Some unusual materials, and colourways here, but pretty cool and unique in their own way.

New Balance 1500CHF Samples vs Released Pair –

The grand finale, so to speak. The New Balance 1500CHF is probably the biggest New Balance collaboration to release in the last three years, and for the first time, we get to check out hanon’s thought process on their way to releasing the final pair.

Every single one of these shoes are great, and I tried to cover all bases for each sample to be able to see the differences.

M1500 V1 –

M1500 V2a –

M1500 V2b –

And of course, here is a round up of the three CHF samples along with the released 1500CHF.

WOMFT – New Balance 1500FPK x FootPatrol ‘Encyclopaedia’

This pair of Made in UK New Balance 1500FPK, a collaboration between New Balance and FootPatrol London, has been getting quite a bit of wear in recent weeks, but never got around to grabbing any on-foot shots.

Actually, I think the only on-foot shot I’ve taken of these was when I returned from London after being at the Private Preview for the shoe. You can check out my write up for the event here.

 

New Balance 997CGR and 997DCS

My love affair with the Made in USA New Balance 997 continues, and I was trying to hold off for as long as possible on buying these two new pairs, but when Leicester based store Wellgosh tagged me in a picture of them on Instagram, I just couldn’t help myself, I had to have them.

As well as the shoes arriving at my door in less than 24 hours, the good people of Wellgosh also threw in some NB POS that they had left over, a nice little touch and I’m extremely grateful!

Anyway, on to the shoes.

First up, let’s take a look at the New Balance 997CGR in some closer detail, and then some on-foot shots.

This pair has been dubbed “Pumice Stone”, and features a tonal grey pigskin suede upper with mesh underlays, and merlot accents on the plastic heel counter and N backer. There are also some lovely 3M hits on the N and toe panel. However, the shoe comes with these strange patterned laces which look pretty out of place on the shoe, so I had to get rid of those and swap them for a clean white set.

Secondly, and the star of the show in my opinion, the New Balance 997DCS “Dusty Olive” as some have been calling it. This pair features a lush olive green nubuck upper, and tan leather accents, which compliment that olive colour perfectly. I know the durable canvas material on the toebox isn’t everyone’s first choice, but like on the 997DOL it is excellent on this shoe and a great choice from NB.

Again, a big thanks to Wellgosh for the love, head over to wellgosh.com to grab these.

WOMFT – New Balance 1500CBW

This is a little latest pick-up of mine, and I really couldn’t wait to get them on-feet, so took them for a spin yesterday evening down near the harbour.

The New Balance 1500CBW, has probably my favourite material combination – nubuck and leather. The little series that New Balance UK done of these was just sublime – 1500CBW, NGW, BGW and SGW. Luckily I have three out of the four, just trying to track down the NGW then I’ll have the complete set of probably my favourite 1500’s.

I forget when these were from, I think it was maybe 2006? Correct me if I’m wrong, but anyway, I hope you enjoy the pictures, dolphins and lighthouses included.