New Balance’s New Skate Shoe Is Having a Shell of a Time
New Balance and Civil have taken the 480 somewhere we weren’t expecting: straight to the shoreline.
The Rhode Island skate shop’s latest team-up is inspired by the humble quahog, a clam native to New England that has somehow ended up having a pretty convincing sneaker moment.
The skate-like shoe arrives in a washed-out palette of gray, cream, purple, and even, yellow, with the kind of slightly strange color combination that makes you look twice.
Look closer and the clam reference starts to make sense. Textured panels echo the ridges of a shell, while pearlescent details give the otherwise muted sneaker a subtle flash. It’s a pretty literal source of inspiration, but somehow doesn’t feel like a novelty shoe.
Civil has also given the 480 a proper skate-shop attitude, with a sturdy build and chunky proportions that make it feel more substantial than your average retro runner. That said, you don’t need to know what a backside 360 is to get some use out of it.
Basically, it’s a New Balance made for people who like their sneakers with a little local flavor and a slightly unexpected backstory.
The New Balance Numeric 480 x Civil is available now for $115.
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