Brand: YCMC x New Balance
Model: 990v3
Release Date: August 25
Price: $195
Buy: YCMC's online store and Shoe City's Maryland, Washington, DC, and Virginia stores
Editor’s Notes: YCMC dips back into the 990 series for its latest New Balance collaboration, celebrating the 990 turning the big 4-0 this year.
YCMC, "Your City, My City," takes on the 990v3 sneaker this go-around, infusing the model with rotation-worthy sensibility via a modern grey color scheme.
The YCMC's New Balance 990v3 gets a taste of New Balance's iconic grey color wheel, receiving a dose of the brand's Nimbus Cloud, Kool Grey, and Marblehead hues on the suede-mesh upper.
The 990 imprint assumes its normal stitched position on the heel. Meanwhile, NB's Made in the USA branding is emblazoned upon the shoe's literal grey areas like the tongue and heel tab.
YCMC's New Balance 990v3 also comes equipped with four shoelace sets, including — wait for it — a grey pair. Essentially, the laces allow the wearer to style the shoe as they please.
After all, the 990s were "made to be worn one way. Your way," as YCMC puts it in an Instagram post announcing the limited edition release.
Sure, I'll give props to KITH, JJJJound, and Teddy Santis for issuing solid homages to the 990 during its 40th anniversary. However, YCMC's take hits different (and better even).
With the Baltimore brand tackling the Washington D.C. footwear staple again, YCMC's New Balance 990v3 epitomizes a love letter between DMV icons.
In circa 1980s DMV, there was nothing cooler than having a brand-new pair of grey New Balance 990s on foot.
Admired for its subtle flex qualities, the New Balance 990 quickly earned street cred amongst the region's natives who preferred noise-free street style over flashy logomania.
The shoe's cult status produced a ripple effect soon felt up North in New York and Philly. Thus, the 990 evolved into the cultural symbol and style icon as we know it today.
Undoubtedly tasteful in more ways than one, the YCMC x New Balance 990v3 is the brand's way of giving the iconic New Balance 990 its flowers, to simply put it.
And how's YCMC honoring the D.C. legend that put the New Balance Grey on the map? YCMC's New Balance collab is dropping exclusively in the DMV, taking things back home to where it all started.
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