As we arrive at the tail end of summer 2023, thisisneverthat is finally dropping its collaborative New Balance 550, rendering one of New Balance's most covetable sneakers in three attractively desaturated cotton canvas colorways of pink, green, and brown.
You could be forgiven for thinking that New Balance's 550 is an Aimé Leon Dore exclusive. But you’d be wrong, because the chunky sneaker initially hit the shelves way back in 1989. Who knew?!
That being said, it wasn’t until the Teddy Santis-founded label got into cahoots with New Balance over three decades later that the 550 really had its moment, so the fact that many associate the 550 sneaker with ALD so heavily is quite understandable.
Still, what did we expect? The 550 has been so universally popular since its initial ALD reincarnation back 2021 that you'd be stupid to try and fix what isn’t broken.
Anyways, Thisisneverthat pays homage to the 550's origins by offering three collaborative New Balance shoes in washed-out canvas, giving the classic shoe a true throwback appearance that ties in with the Korean brand's own clothing collections.
Otherwise, the trio of thisisneverthat x New Balance 550s look to house all the specifics you'd expect from the basketball court silhouette (chunky sole, padded tongue, paneling on the upper), with a co-branded tongue and embroidery.
As if three new 550s weren’t enough, it also looks as if thisisneverthat and New Balance are also dropping a collaborative t-shirt, although specifics on this are even more sparse than that of the shoes.
Thisisneverthat's New Balance 550s drop August 23 on the Thisisneverthat website and a day later in its Korean stores.
The thisisneverthat x New Balance 550 collaboration is well on the way and also can serve as proof that just because ALD isn’t involved, it doesn’t mean the 550 can't be great.
