With New Balance's Latest Killer Dad Shoe, History Repeats Itself
New Balance's 860v2 sneaker is going to have a big summer, let me tell you.
Building on the success that the techy-looking silhouette had in 2023, New Balance is giving the 860v2 shoe an even bigger inline push this season by releasing it in a slew of OG colorways.
First released in 2011 as a cutting-edge performance running sneaker, the newest iteration of New Balance's retro running shoe (the v2), is back and being marketed as a lifestyle sneaker with a few very subtle alterations made to its appearance.
The mesh-heavy upper of the original running sneaker is still fully intact, for example, keeping its sporty looks. So is the slim shape, a different spin on the dad shoe formula that New Balance was sourcing from its archives a few years ago by way of hit sneakers like the 550. But, of course, the 860 still slots in neatly with current sneaker trends.
The latest 860v2 pack utilizes many of the same color combinations that Aimé Leon Dore featured on its first collaboration on New Balance sneaker around this time last year, with navy blue and red paneling contrasting atop the white and silver upper.
This latest 860v2 drops at Korean streetwear label WORKSOUT on April 24 before hitting wider New Balance stockists around the globe.
Having become one of New Balance’s most notable collaborators, that release with ALD (and the ones that followed it) put the 860v2 sneaker firmly into the limelight.
It followed up on the success of Dime’s version of the shoe and soon the sneaker boutique Size? was releasing its own collaboration.
It’s a story we’ve seen played out with many other New Balance models, like the 2002r and more recently the 1906, where the sportswear brand floods the market with hyped collaborations and beautiful general-release colorways, turning an obscure retro model into the next “it sneaker.”
For the 860v2, releases of the model have dried up since the end of last year. However, this wider return of the OG colorways hints that New Balance could be about to push hard on the 860 this summer.
