New Balance’s Japan Design Studio has garnered a lot of attention in recent months, thanks to the incredible collaborations they’ve been releasing with Japanese retailers. This month, they’ll release the most ambitious drop yet, six unique 996s with six different partners.
The New Balance 996 is coming back in a big way. Ever since the Boston-based brand opened its Japan Design Studio, they’ve been pumping out dozens of new collaborations with boutiques all across Japan, though their most ambitious project is yet to come. Tapping just six of these boutique retailers, New Balance has tasked them with creating their own take on the old school silhouette.
First released in 1988, the New Balance 996 is another well-known essential in the Boston brand’s long history of performance running sneakers. These days, the vintage runner is strictly delegated to the brand’s lifestyle category, which will see a revival this month thanks to the Japan Design Studio. The project sees New Balance teaming up with six of Japan’s most prominent boutiques, including United Arrows, Atmos, mita, nonnative, N. Hollywood, and Beams+. Each shoe reflects the image of its collaborators such as the United Arrows pair being constructed entirely from plain white leather, or the Atmos pair mixing a rainbow of tones across the various layers.
New Balance’s collection of 996 silhouettes created by Japanese collaborators will go down in stages, with the first set of pairs slated to drop next week, on July 27th, 2019. First up, Atmos, United Arrows, and nonnative will be releasing their this month, followed by pairs from N. Hollywood, Beams+ and mita on August 3rd, 2019. Check out the images below for a better look at all six various iterations, and stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more New Balance release news.
