New Balance's Most Classic Shoe Quietly Became a Rugged Trail Sneaker
If there is one New Balance sneaker to rule 'em all, it's the plain jane 574. This timelessly simple dad shoe is one of the most ordinary-looking retro runners still on the market and despite — or perhaps due to — its simplicity, it's never not been in style.
The 574 is so much still in demand that New Balance only rarely retools it and, when it does, the results are typically as approachable as the original 574 (behold the low-key 574 skate sneaker).
But the New Balance 574 Legacy is a bit more than normal. It looks more like a trail shoe than an old-school runner... kinda.
It's still such a subtle upgrade that only discerning eyes could likely tell the 574 and 574 Legacy apart, at least without closer inspection. But you can see that, beneath the 574 Legacy, there's a gently beefy outsole that gives it some outdoorsy texture.
The NB 574 Legacy launched in 2023 with a few understated colorways, including archetypal New Balance Grey. I assume it sold fairly well, or at least as well as the average 574, because it's quietly rolling out in a few handsomely understated suede styles that look a lot like the sort of stuff you expect from the day-to-day 574.
Just a little chunkier, a little more like, yes, a trail shoe.
In an era where New Balance is making its shoes lower to the ground, where it's heightening the techy-ness and transforming its classics into brand-new oddities, there's some satisfying familiarity in seeing New Balance essentially remake the 574 with a super subtle upgrade.
Whereas the underrated 574 derby perhaps took the humble 574 too far — these shoes, as cool as they were, sat on shelves — the 574 Legacy is an appreciable balance of familiar and fresh.
Currently only available at specialty stores like Korean streetwear giant WORKSOUT's website for a timid ₩149,000 (about $110), the new, brownish 574 Legacy is likely to hit New Balance's international stockists in due time.
Which is fitting, because New Balance has been dishing a series of ultra-powerful shoes for more than a few months now. Why not another gently retooled classic?
