New balance sneakers

The most iconic New Balance ad is for something other than New Balance. The Jordan Jumpman logo is inspired by a photograph taken by Jacobus Rentmeester, which features Michael Jordan in a pair of New Balance BB480s.

It’s more than just a fact. It encapsulates the brand: quietly, modestly, and incredibly.

New Balance was founded in 1906, but its first shoes were not sold in retail until 1960. In 1972, New Balance employed only five full-time employees who produced only 30 pairs of the popular Trackster running shoe per day.

New Balance relies on the word-of-mouth of its customers to promote its products rather than celebrity or athlete endorsements. When they released their 320 models, which featured their distinctive “N” logo, in 1976, their iconic print advertisements featured old “ma” and “pa” wearing their sneakers.

What do New Balance’s numbers mean?

They were so determined to avoid typical marketing tactics that they used a functional code system instead of gimmicky names to differentiate their styles. The 6-7-digit code is more straightforward and more transparent than it may appear.

The first or second letter indicates the gender and type of training. M = Mens; W = Womens; T = Trail, or whether it’s manufactured in the US, UK, or both. Next, the following two numbers will indicate how much innovation and performance to expect and what price you should expect. Next, the numbers indicate the performance range, with “40” being the focus, followed by “50” and “70”, which are stability, comfort, and cushioning. The “80” or “90” ranges with “00” focus on lightweight options for competitive runners.

These numbers are more of an overall trend rather than a rule. New Balance wants to avoid seeing people shopping in this manner.

Here’s a look at some of the most iconic sneakers from the brand.

New Balance 550

The “Basketball Oxford,” designed by Steven Smith, was released in 1989 during the height of the most significant basketball footwear trend: low-top, lightweight sneakers that offered added stability. The 550 failed due to a lack of innovation and forward-thinking technology at a time when the Reebok Pump was on top. Teddy Santis, a 30-year-old man, has turned one man’s trash into his treasure. He resurrected the once-ostracized shoe from its grave in 2020 with the Aime Leon Dore Collaboration, thanks to its aesthetic complementing the brand’s downtown NYC feel.

New Balance 574

The 574 has been a brand classic for decades and is always strong. The 574 was initially released in 1988 as running shoes. However, the brand continues to keep it in its lineup even though they have made some slight updates.

New Balance 550

As with most of the newer silhouettes over the last two or three decades, New Balance knew they needed to push beyond the conventional upgrades other brands made to their performance-meets-lifestyle kicks. New

New Balance 574

However, fast forward to 2013, at the height of the cool-kids-in-chunky-ironic-shoes era, the sneaker was quickly adopted by the fashion zeitgeist; it checked all of the boxes and a makeover helped catapult the 530 back into the limelight.