Ganni Made New Balance's Most Minimalist Sneaker Anything But
Ganni's New Balance sneaker collaborations have gone to some pretty wild places but never any more out-there than a little neon yellow here or normcore silver there. But, for some reason, New Balance's Tminimalist T500 shoe has prompted Ganni to go all-out.
Or, more specifically, Ganni was inspired to invite a few likeminded artists to transform its New Balance 500 collab from a super simple sneaker into a barely recognizable series of artworks.
The result is brilliantly transformative and really makes Ganni's own NB 500 — itself anything but subtle — look positively plain by comparison.
And, perhaps even better, it's an opportunity for Ganni to use its ample platform to spotlight young talent from its native Copenhagen.
Ganni's participants include Ojuna Njama Petersen, Bonnetje, Camilla Skov and MASCULINA, who all served up impressively distinct NB 500 remixes.
Ganni's NB 500, a low-top shoe cut from embossed white leather and trimmed with leopard print, is the starting point. The endings are as wildly divergent as painter Ojuna Njama Petersen's felt slipper and ceramicist Camilla Skov's clay-drenched shoe.
One of the best takes comes from subversive fashion label Bonnetje, which mutated the NB 500 into a chunky pump lined with leopard and fitted with a New Balance insole. Smart stuff.
And MASCULINA designer Alectra Rothschild takes the sneaker-turned-office shoe attitude a step (pun unintended) further with electrifying neon hues and a stiletto heel.
Sadly, none of these killer creations will be for sale but such is the price of one-off innovation.
They will all be on display, however, at Ganni's Bremerholm flagship store from September 20, the day that Ganni's $150 New Balance T500 releases on its website.
It's hard not to be fascinated by bizzaro footwear transformations.
High heels are typically the usual reference point for sneaker revisers seeking to make a splash. Everything from Converse Chuck Taylors to shower slides have been stilleto-fied in the wake of Balenciaga's Crocs heels but despite the deluge, it all still feels fresh.
It definitely helps that sneaker-heels will never escape fashion's uncanny valley.
New Balance is really on the cutting-edge of this field, what with its viral sneaker-loafer reframing the entire footwear hybrid conversation, a dialogue only furthered by Ganni's experimental ingenuity.
