Every footwear brand has its own foam rubber mules nowadays. Literally all of them. That said, none of them look quite as excellent as New Balance’s latest slip-on beauties, which doesn’t really come as a surprise because New Balance has always had a gift for laceless sneakers.
New Balance’s Fresh Foam X RCVRY, as its latest mules are officially titled, are the latest effortless silhouette to join NB’s ever-growing arsenal of sneakers and are unlike anything New Balance has released before.
For starters, NB’s Fresh Foam X RCVRY clog is definitely not a sneaker. Sure, it might look like a New Balance take on the YEEZY Foam RNNR, itself a sort of sneaker-meets-mule hybrid, but there’s more to this avant New Balance than meets the eye. Hear me out.
NB’s Fresh Foam X RCVRY is billed as a post-activity slip-on, one that comes equipped with all the cushioned tech needed to help its wearer rest, recover, and go again.
Inside the shoe you’ll find a 360-degree "massaging" interior that gently caresses the foot for post-workout recovery, an ultra-cushioned Fresh Foam X midsole that’s been tried and tested for years inside New Balance’s plump running silhouettes, and a foot-hugging fully-injected EVA foam upper, which offers comfort for days.
As well as the actual physical benefits that NB’s Fresh Foam X RCVRY offers, it’s also an objectively great-looking rubber mule too, with Crocs-like ventilation holes dressing the upper amidst a pleasingly subtle “N” logo.
For now, NB’s Fresh Foam X RCVRY is a US-only release retailing at $99. Although if the demand for these goes anything like the rest of New Balance’s shoes of late, they’ll likely be coming to a website nearer you, too. That wouldn't be terribly surprising, honestly, as New Balance tends to experiment with regional drops followed by wider international releases.
New Balance has officially entered the rubber foam mule chat and, as it so often does, it's killed it.
