When You Want to Put the "New" In New Balance, Call Junya Watanabe
Junya Watanabe’s New Balance TF100 should’ve stuck out like a sore thumb when it debuted in the designer’s Spring/Summer 2026 show last summer. That it didn't is a testament to the shoe’s quiet genius and Watanabe's preferred sneaker revisions.
New Balance’s TF100 is an oversized sporty runner that features a huge hole carved into the middle of the sole unit, making part of the sneaker’s upper hover above the ground. It's very weird but, also, somehow not.
It’s never been seen before or since, making it a Junya Watanabe exclusive (for now) like the New Balance sneaker-loafer that debuted over a year ago.
Why exactly did this bulky New Balance with a chunk of its sole missing manage to fly under the radar? Because, for all its quirks, the TF100 is also quite classic, especially compared to similarly funky styles like the quite recent ABZORB 2000.
The shoe’s upper is a restrained mix of smooth leather adjoined to curving mesh panels and Watanabe’s typically simple monochrome black and white colorways only underline its streamlined shape.
Watanabe amplified the shoe's huge proportions by pairing it with slim slacks and yet, because of its streamlined shape, the TF100 blended right in. Now that’s good design.
Previously, Watanabe neutralized techy sneakers like the Oakley Factory Team Ibex and the CAMPERLAB Tossu, but the collaboration-mad designer’s skills are on full display with the New Balance TF100, debuting on March 20.
But perhaps the TF100’s apparent versatility is more a testament to New Balance’s cleverness than anything else. Junya Watanabe might’ve helped make the shoe surprisingly sleek but is that down to his preference for tonal shoes or New Balance's design acumen?
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