Stone Island’s First American-Made New Balance, Powered by Its Innovative Archive
Stone Island brings the fabric innovation, New Balance the classic sneakers. That is largely how the Italian fashion house’s collaborations with New Balance have operated till now, and their latest New Balance 998 is no different.
Inspired by a pioneering piece of Stoney technology, its Raso Gommato fabric, a classic New Balance model has been imbued with its technical know-how.
Raso Gommato, invented by Stone Island founder Massimo Osti, is a wind-resistant polyurethane film bonded to a cotton satin, inspired by materials used in the military. It’s been a part of Stone Island’s collections since the early days in the ‘80s, and now it’s emerging on one of New Balance’s historic shoes.
A certified New Balance classic debuted in the ‘90s (the first shoe to utilize NB’s now-signature ABZORB cushioning), the elderly 998 model is upgraded for this collaboration, polyurethane-coated cotton canvas and nubuck by Stone Island emerging on its upper.
It’s the first Made in USA sneaker in their longstanding history, being produced on New Balance’s home turf using Stone Island’s signature fabrics.
In its deep mauve, the shoe is somewhat reserved, leaning into the time-honored design of the 998. Which is befitting with many of New Balance and Stone Island’s recent elderly collaborations.
The final touch to the sneaker is a black and silver Stone Island badge added to the tongue, a style of badge added to the brand’s limited-edition, research-heavy creations.
This new sneaker is set to arrive on March 27 via Stone Island. And as with all previous NB collaborations, it's a very limited release.
Continuing a series of classic sneakers turned ruggedly functional from the duo (we’ve had camo-inspired New Balance 991v2s, archival techy fabrics added to a New Balance 574, and rubberized cotton New Balance 577s before this), New Balance and Stone Island have once again dug through their vast archives of innovation to produce a premium, techy piece of footwear.
