Image via Complex Original
Over the course of the past year, New Balance has been experiencing a resurgence. While the Boston-based footwear brand has always had a loyal following supporting its various runners, lifestyle collaborations throughout 2020 with popular designers like Joe Freshgoods, Casablanca, and JJJJound have injected new life into the brand. The same people who once scoffed at owning a New Balance sneaker are now eagerly trying to secure pairs for their rotation.
One of the collaborators who has been at the forefront of New Balance’s surge is New York City’s Aimé Leon Dore. Since releasing its first duo of 997s in September 2019, the brand has cranked out five other projects with New Balance that have all been met with fanfare. One of them even resulted in the NYPD shutting down the in-store lineup to control the commotion on Mulberry Street. Whether ALD is putting its touch on favorites like the 997 or digging up forgotten models from the ‘80s like the 550, the brand’s contributions have certainly helped consumers view NB in a new light. The brand has taken notice, too. ALD founder Teddy Santis will be taking over as the creative director of its Made in USA business at the top of 2022, a sign that whatever he is doing is working.
Fresh off of the latest project between the two parties earlier this month, we decided to take a look at the evolution of the ALD x NB partnership. The detailed rundown appears below.—Mike DeStefano
New Balance 997
When: April 2019
The first Aimé Leon Dore sneaker collaboration is one that will be forgotten by time: a 2015 project on three pairs of Puma States. The second sneaker collaboration from the brand might go down as its best. In April 2019, Aimé Leon Dore got to work on two pairs of New Balance 997s, which were created with the idea of someone purchasing both pairs and mismatching them. The shoes came in a grey with pink and yellow colorway and another more limited grey with burgundy and blue colorway. What got collectors excited about the shoes is that they were debuted with an “Intelligent Choice” advertisement, an old slogan from the company, that riffed off the ad for the New Balance 320 that debuted in 1976. The original ad had an old man and woman in big top coats and bright blue sneakers. ALD had an eerily similar man dressed the same way, smoking a cigar and walking a French bulldog wearing one colorway of each of their collaborative sneakers. Complex would go on to rank the sneakers in the top 10 for the 2019 sneaker of the year panel and it would be one of the first moments where New Balance got back into the hype conversation. —Matt Welty
New Balance 990v2/990v5
When: November 2019
Depending on who you ask, the New Balance 990 series hosts the brand’s most important models. In 2019, New Balance took what some considered to be a risk by introducing a new version, the 990v5. It paid off, with the 990v5 becoming a top seller thanks in part to the energy created by collaborations like Aimé Leon Dore’s. ALD didn’t get carried away with this one, blocking the upper in a collegiate-like mix of navy and forest green. And the simplicity is what makes it good.
Another important model in the 990 lineage is the 990v2, which was also included in this collaboration. The more hyped of the two, the Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance 990v2 used similar shades of green and navy, but mixed things up with the addition of grey accents and yellow shoelaces. Those were just the touches to put the model over the top, and the 990v2 remains one of Aimé Leon Dore’s most valuable collabs. —Riley Jones
New Balance 827
When: March 2020
The New Balance 827 has not historically been a popular sneaker. That’s not to say it’s a bad shoe, but it has never occupied the same space as regular New Balance retro silhouettes like the 577, 1300, 1500, or those from the 99X series. The list of memorable drops of it is short. The model, originally from 1999, got a boost courtesy of Aimé Leon Dore with this trio of colorways. Like most projects from ALD and NB, the branding is minimal—there’s a reflective print on the heel and more indicators of origin on the insole, but no overt logo slaps. The pack proved the ability of Santis and his brand to inject excitement into a sneaker that typically didn’t have much. It remains the clear standout from New Balance’s recent releases for the 827, although Stray Rats’ muddy colorway deserves a nod in that conversation. —Brendan Dunne
New Balance 550 (International Friendship Through Basketball Pt. 1)
When: October 2020
Basketball has always been woven into ALD’s brand identity in some form by its founder Teddy Santis. The storefront on Mulberry Street is home to original pairs of Air Jordan 4s from 1989 and TV screens occasionally play highlights from old NBA Finals games from the ‘90s. Before ALD hit its peak of mainstream popularity, the brand would release apparel collections and even host a 3-on-3 streetball tournament by the same name, Sonny New York, with offerings ranging from mesh pinnies to branded shooting sleeves. So, it made sense when the brand decided to get a bit unorthodox for its Fall/Winter 2020 New Balance project and unearth a rarely seen basketball model from 1989, the P550 Oxford, for its first “International Friendship Through Basketball” collection.
The 550 returned in four colorways. Each featured an eggshell leather upper with green, navy blue, red, or grey detailing throughout. Santis furthered the story with the campaign, which featured kids from the 15u AAU team, Sonny, and Coach Kenny Satterfield decked out in the footwear and accompanying apparel. The shoes all sold out with ease and fetch $400+ on the resell market. It proved that consumers could be receptive to New Balance’s archive beyond the usual 99X series, 574, or 1300, especially if the story beyond why the sneaker is being brought back makes sense too. —Mike DeStefano
New Balance 1300
When: August 2020
ALD decided to take a bit of a different approach to its fifth collaboration with New Balance. With the hype surrounding the brand’s offerings arguably reaching its highest point at the launch of the 550s in Summer 2020, Santis and company made sure that everyone who wanted this collab would be able to own it. Rather than hold a raffle or lineup, Aimé Leon Dore decided to send out a pre-order to all of its newsletter subscribers on Aug. 13, 2020, that allowed for customers to reserve one pair of each colorway in the size of their choosing. The collab consisted of two 1300s. One pair featured a Dusty Pink mesh and hairy suede upper with navy blue detailing, while the other opted for a Botanical Green upper with silver accents. Each featured pre-yellowed tongues and midsoles as well that made them look like a pristinely kept relic from 1984 pulled from someone’s storage bin.
The catch, the shoes wouldn’t actually be delivered until months later. Pairs finally began to touch down to those who reserved them in March 2021. While the initial email suggests that there is still a general release on the way, there has been no indication of a follow-up drop as of right now. A pre-order system like this is certainly something we would love to see implemented more often in sneakers. It makes sure those who actually want the shoes eventually get them. Will it become the norm? Probably not. But we hope at least ALD keeps these types of pre-order drops in play every so often. —Mike DeStefano
Image via Teddy Santis
When: April 2021
How much does New Balance trust Teddy Santis? Enough to anoint him as the creative director of its Made in USA business, from which come popular retro models like the 1300, 1400, and a number of the 990s. The new position, which the Aimé Leon Dore founder will take over starting in 2022, is new territory for New Balance, a sportswear company that has historically been somewhat hesitant to move like a fashion brand. The announcement came with a full-page ad in The New York Times and a brief comment from Santis on Instagram. “Thank you to the NB team for trusting me with what I believe is the soul of the brand,” he wrote. “I look forward to sharing more behind this campaign and what it represents for our partnership.” —Brendan Dunne
New Balance 550 (International Friendship Through Basketball Pt. 2)
When: April 2021
Fresh off the announcement of his coming role as creative director of New Balance Made in USA, Teddy Santis had his next collab locked and loaded. A follow-up to October 2020’s International Friendship Through Basketball collection centered around the reissue of the New Balance 550 basketball Oxford; this installment saw the addition of two new colorways. The Natural Green and navy/red styles didn’t reinvent the wheel, but that’s exactly what makes them so good: They look like pairs that could have actually been released in the ‘80s. Throw in some premium materials (the cracked leather on the “N” logo is the design’s chef’s kiss) and limited availability (the Natural Green pair was an ALD exclusive, and the other pair wasn’t much easier to come by) and you’ve got yet another Santis-led hit. Beyond the sneakers, ALD also released a range of co-branded apparel including warm-up pants and jackets, jerseys, slides, and more. —Riley Jones