New Balance Blog

As covered previously the new NB 1400 “Fanzine” collection by Super Team 33 officially drops today. The select 33 retailers include Shoe Biz (US), Sportie LA (US), Sold Out (France), Hanon Shop (UK), Limited Edt (Singapore).

NB M1400 Super Team 33 Fanzine Collection

Out now at Mita is a limited edition black/purple 990. This was previewed about three months ago and said to be a tribute to Japanese console games.

Note the black patent leather, perforated purple suede and embroidered logo on the heel. The new pics show white instead of multicolor laces, a welcome change considering how busy the colors are elsewhere.

In the technology department the shoe features a 3/4-length ABZORB EX sole (hence “990EX”) for shock absorption. ABZORB EX is the combination of NB’s premium ABZORB foam material and an outside air bubble.

These will set you back approx USD $120.

Via High Snobiety

Established in 2001, Parisian communications agency and all-around urban trend setter, La MJC is celebrating its 6th birthday this summer. To mark the occasion, it is releasing another New Balance 1500 with Colette. This one is made in the UK and limited to 190 pairs worldwide. Release date is July 7th exclusively at the Colette shop in Paris and online at Sold Out.

Notable is the heavy use of “black carbon” material from the Flimby UK factory, matched with the gray suede that is the hallmark of NB running sneakers. For the first time the 1500 will feature an all-fuchsia sole to match one of the dominant colors on lamjc.com. Included in the package are both black and fuchsia laces. The lining and inner sole are made of black leather for added comfort and style.

Via LA MJC

Check out this excellent stop-animation video made by Pete Hellicar to promote the forthcoming NB 576 x Foot Patrol collaboration (previously). Amazing stuff!!

Via SXH

High Snobiety reports:

“We’re proud to present you the first collaboration between New Balance and Thomas I Punkt. Their goal was to design a running shoe for people who like a fresh, new look and appreciate the little details. For this project they chose the New Balance 577, simply because it is a classic.

Everything started with a combination of grey heather sweat fabric and white full grain leather. New Balance exclusively fabricated an all white midsole and a heelcab with a light grey outsole. Each version carries a silkscreen dot pattern print.

The flaglabel on the tongue shows the skyline of the city of Hamburg, Germany, home of Thomas I Punkt. We love how the purple heel, the coloured stitching, the New Balance logo and the flaglabel perfectly fit together. They also decided to use a leather layer on the inside of the shoe to make it even more comfortable.

The white edition is limited to 120 pairs and the dots edition is limited to 74 pairs. Both shoes are numbered and come with two different laces and an I-Punkt dot pattern bandana. The sneakers will be released at Thomas I Punkt on 30th of June.”

The 576 designed by Concepts Tannery and New Balance (previously) drops this Saturday June 30th at the Concepts store in Cambridge, MA. Also look for the matching t-shirt.

M576TNRY Concepts

Concepts
37 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
TEL #: 617-868-2001
www.cncpts.com

Reminder via Freshness

Almost forgot to post this 576 that matches the made-in-UK Gimme 5 collab with the velcro N we saw previously. This time London’s Foot Patrol sneaker boutique is on the buttons. The preview shows a reddish-brown upper with brightly colored, removable, velcro Ns in blue, orange and yellow.

Each shoe also comes with a leather tag bearing the logo of the shop that collaborated with New Balance, in this case a Foot Patrol gas mask.

No word on release dates yet.

Via HB. Thanks Xymon for the heads up.

Here are the two G-Shock watches that match the forthcoming KIKS TYO x G-Shock x New Balance collab (previously on NBB).

Via Random Ramblings

Gimme 5 has collaborated with New Balance on a limited edition, UK-made 576. The shoe upper itself is all-black but it comes with three brightly-colored, interchangeable, velcro ‘N’ logos in black on yellow, pink on gray, and green on purple. These colors are also used in multicolor embroidery on the tongue. No release information for this yet so stay tuned!

Via SlamXHype

NB M1400 Super Team 33 Fanzine Collection

The next quarterly release from New Balance’s Super Team 33 manufacturing group will be out July 20, 2007 for USD $200. The design comes from NB Europe who have chosen zines as their inspiration. Remember the time before weblogs? Fanzines are of course DIY print publications created by fans and for fans purely “for the love” of a particular music artist, fashion or other pop culture phenomenon. Made with scissors, tape, glue, staples, photocopiers, typewriters, desktop printers and other cheap and quick production methods, they have served a critical role in disseminating youth subculture.

M1400FZ1 - White

M1400FZ2 - Blue

M1400FZ3 - Red

“”Fanzines are created through the passion and care of an individual with a message and an audience,” says Robert Ward, EMEA lifestyle category manager at New Balance. “In a similar way this New Balance ST33 collection has been crafted with the same passion and care as the writers invested in their early fanzines. These shoes are all still individually handmade with a strong sense of craftsmanship and pride, just like an old stapled and photocopied fanzine.”

The Fanzine 1400’s feature a combination of premium full grain leathers and intricate printed materials. The rich, supple premium aniline leathers used on the shoes were selected to represent the high quality of the collection and the New Balance brand. The punch perforations in the vamp and midsole symbolize the heavily inked dots the period key on old typewriters would leave when typing onto fanzine paper. The shoe colors were chosen based on the most commonly used fanzine paper stock - fanzine writers typically use brightly colored paper stock as the type/text itself is always black, so red and blue paper is often used to give the fanzine a more colorful, high quality, eye-catching appearance. The “do it yourself” nature of fanzines is incorporated into the ST33 shoes through a variety of languages, illustrating the global nature of the collection and the fanzine concept.”
–New Balance

The ST33 production group in Skowhegan, Maine counts only 28 members and practices domestic vertical manufacturing. They create the shoes by hand, going from cutting to packing in a single day, and ship directly from the factory itself. The “33″ indicates that the shoes are sold at only 33 select retailers worldwide.

The first ST33 release was the American-designed fish collection, followed by the Stingray collection designed by NB Japan. Next up is New Balance’s Asia/Pacific group whose ST33 release will be out in Q4 2007.

Read more