New Balance’s Padded Mule Is Adventure-Ready
New Balance Korea's outdoor-focused CRV line is releasing another adventure-ready mule almost five years after its first.
Billed as the New Balance CRV Mule v2, the uber comfortable padded slip-on, which first released last year, builds on the original CRV Mule from back in 2019, prior to the more recent rise of the mule.
Unlike its predecessor, the New Balance CRV Mule v2 ups the outdoorsy ante with an upper recipe of ripstop nylon, suede, and leather, alongside woven pull taps, hiking laces, and a chunky midsole akin to NB’s popular 550 silhouette.
Truth is, the release of NB’s first CRV Mule back in 2019 went relatively unnoticed.
That, though, isn’t down to a flaw in the shoe’s design, but instead that New Balance had released an adventure-ready mule ahead of its time.
It wasn’t until 2020 in lockdown that the footwear scene began to really take notice of comfortable slip-ons that could be worn both outdoors and as an indoor house mule.
Since then, the rise of the mule has been unstoppable, something New Balance has also capitalised on away from its CRV line with drops like the 2002R mule and, more recently, the Fresh Foam X RCVRY.
While New Balance’s CRV Mule might not have gotten the praise it deserves thus far, amidst this currently comfort-focused climate, it could well find itself one of New Balance’s most popular silhouettes of this summer.
