Double Tap to Zoom
New Balance
1 / 5

The black New Balance 1906L loafer is here and that can only mean one thing: The hybrid shoe agenda is here to stay. (Sorry to the sneaker-heel haters out there.)

Famously techy, the 1906L — the loafer iteration of New Balance's 1906 sneaker — has a textile upper with shiny black accents and a rubber sole. It's durable, practical and captivatingly perplexing.

The mesh upper and rubber sole have the sporty cadence of a sneaker, but that loafer build is very 9-5 coded — a wonderful fusion of opposing style concepts. It also pairs very well with the enduring corpcore movement. Sweet serendipity.

Now, if the words "sporty-chic" or "business casual" fire up your sartorial senses — then this loafer-hybrid has likely been on your radar for the better half of a year.

Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.

But even the uninitiated have likely come across this sporty loafer online since its arrival was heavily discussed and, in some cases, dreaded long before a release date was given.

Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Twitter post.

In an era of fabulously appalling shoe supremacy, though, digital backlash is lowkey an indicator of a shoe's potential star power.

Don't get it confused, though, the anticipation for this beautifully confused sneaker was high, and it took a (frustratingly) long time to even get an initial release date. At one point, all we had were runway easter eggs that suggested something was coming soon.

(Shout out to Junya Watanabe!)

Your Highsnobiety privacy settings have blocked this Instagram post.

New Balance has more than made up for this, though, with near back-to-back releases that include a metallic silver iteration released in September and now the black 1906L, which will be available on December 3.

Sporty business fans — we are so up right now.

We Recommend
  • 9 Black Sneakers for Any Rotation, Simple As That
  • New Balance's Apricot-Flavored Dad Shoe Is a Tasty Fruit Snack
  • The Miu Miu-Coded, Cortado-Colored New Balance Is For Literal Coffee Runs
  • Steve Jobs’ New Balance Dad Shoe Looks Just as Good 20 Years Later
What To Read Next
  • These Vintage Dealers Make New Designer Clothes Look Old
  • The Quasi-Monogrammed adidas Tokyo Is Cosplaying As a Luxury Sneaker
  • A.PRESSE Basically Built a Tea Room for Its Best Collection Yet (EXCLUSIVE)
  • Vans Just Turned Grandpa’s Dress Shoes Into a Skater's Staple
  • This Summer-Ready adidas Pack Is Full of Literal Basket Cases. The Good Kind
  • Engineered Garments’ Improved Vans Slip-On Is (Almost) the Same (EXCLUSIVE)