New Balance's Deliciously Detailed Dad Shoe Is a Literal "Tech Explosion"
New Balance makes dad shoes. We all know this. And the New Balance 1906 sneaker is perhaps the ultimate expression of the form, all raw techy upper and beefy midsole.
But the New Balance 1906 "Tech Explosion" is so over-the-top that it looks like a dad shoe from 2095, not 1995.
Inverting deconstructionist approach that made New Balance's "Protection Pack" shoes a sleeper hit, the New Balance 1906 "Tech Explosion" is actually more detailed than before.
These New Balance sneakers, which first dropped in 2024 and have returned in fresh colorways for 2025, are expressively over the top, packed with crazy paneling, stitching, and laces.
Slabs of leather fly off the 1906's mesh base and bright splashes of color surface seemingly at random, creating an impressively dynamic shoe.
And both the blueish "Inkwell" and greenish "Olive Juice" colorways look almost entirely unique, even though they're really just slightly different versions of the same shoe. That's the power of over-accessorizing in action.
These aren't the HOKA-esque chunksters that New Balance has been cooking up as of late nor are they an all-new walking shoe or fresh-looking trail runner destined to lead the charge as New Balance's most original new design.
But the "Tech Explosion" 1906 is a crowd-pleaser, to be sure, and it's impressive that quite a few pairs of the new sneakers remain available on the Highsnobiety store and New Balance's website for $175 apiece.
