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.

WOMFT – New Balance 577SNS2 x SNS ‘First Round’

I wore one of the other pairs to this collaborative pack the other day – check the post here – so I figured I might as well wear the other pair too.

This is the New Balance 577SNS2 x Sneakersnstuff from their first round of collaborations with New Balance in 2005, and was created by Peter of SNS, with only 96 pairs made.  The Sneakersnstuff pair were invited to the famous Flimby factory in Cumbria, England, and they knew that the visit was mostly about doing a collaboration, but around this time, it was still relatively early days for NB UK on the collaborating front. After receiving a grand tour of the factory, they had very little time to come up with the designs for these shoes, but knew the model that they wanted to work on, and started to hand pick the materials they wanted to use.

Material options were limited at the Flimby factor, however, they are well known for their premium materials, and we see this on Peter’s design, from the leather toe box to the suede heel wrap. A classic design, which was slightly inspired by the classic 577 in navy and the 997 in grey, uses all these colours and a clean white leather toe wrap and perforated toe box with mixes of suede on the rest of the upper.

WOMFT – New Balance 577SNS1 x SNS ‘First Round – Secret’

Sneakersnstuff have made some of my favourite shoes, both Peter and Erik definitely have a great eye for creating great colourways and pairing them with excellent materials. You can check out my New Balance x Sneakersnstuff history here if you wish to brush up on their collaborations.

The New Balance 577SNS1 x Sneakersnstuff dropped in 2005, and was meant to resemble the Swedish Flag, but as you can see, the blue is just a little off…. Anyway, there was a second take to get the colour right, a pair that I’m still trying to track down!

I’ve had this pair for a couple of years now, but have never gotten around to wearing them for some reason, until last night.

  
  

WOMFT – New Balance 577GSI x Sneakersnstuff

One year ago today Sneakersnstuff opened the doors of their store in London, and it’s been a big year for them, and that’s set to continue with them announcing another new store – location unknown yet but rumour has it that NYC is on the cards!

So it felt fitting to post a couple on-foot shots of these New Balance 577GSI by the Swedish heavyweights themselves, and this particular pair designed by Erik of SNS. He opted for a nice OG UK 1500 colourway vibe, with premium materials, and of course that stand out all white midsole and outsole, solid job.

Hope you enjoy the couple of quick shots and the shots of the area around where they were taken.

WOMFT – New Balance 577SNE x Sneakersnstuff

 

New Balance CT300 x SNS, Firmament, hanon, and 24 Kilates

Following on from the previous post, with the launch of the New Balance CT300 pack of collaborations launching this Friday, here are some detailed pictures of the shoes, and also, all the details of where some of the stores took their inspiration when designing the colourways.

New Balance CT300PHA x Hanon Shop ‘Phoenix’

2014 marks the 10th anniversary of Hanon Shop’s collaboration history with New Balance, and in celebration, they take a step away from their usual running models to work on one of New Balance’s first tennis shoes.

These will be available instore at Hanon Shop on the 27th of June from 10am, and available online at 2pm with a RRP of £105.

New Balance CT300 x 24 Kilates ‘Vamos A La Playa’

The well known 24 Kilates store is based in Barcelona, Spain, so it’s inevitable that some of their inspiration was taken from the stunning beach there, with elements such as the sand, the sea and the sun playing a part in the colourway.

The name ‘Vamos A La Playa’ is the Spainish translation for ‘Let’s go to the beach’.

These shoes will release instore first at 24 Kilates on the 28th of June 2014.

New Balance CT300 x Firmament Berlin ‘Pine Sunset’

Berlin based store Firmament may not be a store that many are familiar with, but they have certainly held their own with their take on the New Balance CT300.

Firmament will be hosting a special in-store launch event this coming Friday, June 27th from 18:00 – 21:00, and the collection will be available in-store at the launch event, and online that following Saturday, June 28th.

New Balance CT300 x SNS ‘1999’

Heavy hitters SNS have just recently opened a store in London, but that hasn’t slowed down their collaboration efforts. As you may or may not know, SNS have worked with New Balance many times over the years and have created some of the best collaborations to date. Here’s a little piece of text taken from the SNS website.

“Yes, we have worked together before, New Balance and Sneakersnstuff. In fact, New Balance was one of the first brands to give us the possibility to do a collaboration. And there has been a few over the years. But this time New Balance gave us a new challenge.

New Balance CT300 was first released in 1979, and the timing of bringing back a Made in UK tennis shoe could not have better. And if New Balance can bring up good things form their history, we figured that so can we.

Longtime supporters of Sneakersnstuff recognize these colors immidiatly. When Erik and Peter open up the store in 1999 we painted the walls grey. White would have been to bright, and we wanted a color that didn’t steal the attention from the products. The store was pretty small, so we painted the ceiling white to make the space feel bigger. Then we added a border of burgundy on the top of the walls because… well, because we liked it, and it was our store so we could do anything we wanted.

And as I said, we have worked with New Balance before, so we know that whatever product will come out of the Flimby factory, it will be on point. So we are very excited to present the Sneakersnstuff x New Balance CT300 ”1999”. It drops on June 27th and will be joined by version from our friends over at Hanon, 24 Kilates and Firmament.

Release date: June 27th
Sneakersnstuff Stockholm: 12.00 CET
Sneakersnstuff Malmö: 12.00 CET
Sneakersnstuff London: 10.30 WET
Online: 13.00 CET”

All pictures taken from the respective stores websites.

New Balance CT300 x SNS, Firmament, hanon, and 24 Kilates.

I think it’s fair to say that many of us have been waiting for the Flimby section of New Balance to start working on collaborations with the European ‘big hitters’, so to speak. Not long ago the ‘Danish Weather Pack’ was released, where Norse Projects collaborated on two UK made 1500’s, but both these shoes were a far cry from their 670 back in 2009.

Anyway, as news broke that New Balance would be collaborating with Sneakersnstuff, Firmament, hanon and 24 Kilates, there was a great deal of anticipation, only for that to maybe be ruined a bit when it was announced that it wouldn’t be an ever popular running model, but instead, a tennis shoe.

Phrases like, “these colourways would look great on a 1500.. or a 577”, alright, fair enough, but then what’s the point in ruining a good colourway by using it on a model that is going to be bulky and banana-like? You have previous 577’s and 1500’s from SNS and hanon, and putting these colourways onto those models in 2014 would result in a shoe a million miles away from their past efforts.. that’s something that I’m sure of.. at least until there is shape changes at Flimby – granted you may not be bothered about the shape.

However, if you’re willing to look past the non-runner scenario, then the timing of the New Balance CT300 collaborations is perfect, with the grass court tennis season well underway and Wimbledon starting on the 23rd of June.

The CT300 was first released in 1979, and it was one of the first tennis shoes to be produced by New Balance, and one which offered a great deal of cushioning and durability on court. This classic court shoe is making a big return and all pairs are hand-crafted using only the most premius of materials at the Flimby factory.

Below you can check out a video produced for the release, which visits Aberdeen, Stockholm, Berlin and Barcelona, to talk about the shoes:

From left to right, the shoes below to 24 Kilates, Firmament, hanon, and SNS, but just to make sure, I’ve taken some screenshots from the video and posted them below.

Firmament:

hanon shop:

Sneakersnstuff:

24 Kilates:

Each shoe is set to release at their respective stores on Friday the 27th of June, and then look for a wider release the following week, but these shoes have been produced in limited quantities so don’t hesitate!

Keep an eye out for further information with regards to release details in the coming week as the stores get ready for their launch, but we hear the retail price will be around £105-£110.