New Balance

Domestic manufacturing has been part of New Balances heritage since 1938 when they produced their first pair of running shoes. Since then the company has grown from 6 employees crafting 30 pairs of shoes daily to 1,300 employees crafting 19,000 pairs of shoes daily. Despite the bucking trend of companies moving their operations offshore, New Balance remains as one of the only athletic shoe manufacturers in the United States.

This investment in manufacturing has allowed New Balance to continue producing their timeless and classic silhouettes like the 998, and 1300 in such great detail, starting from the use of materials down to the detailing that goes into every last stitch. Which brings me to the two shoes before you. The M1300LG with its mostly grey upper featuring a textile mix of mesh, nubuck, along with the trademark ‘N’ highlighted in navy, and the M998BR with its tonal black upper that utilizes a mixture of premium leathers, suedes and wax canvas accents, amidst and contrasting white midsole with red highlights.

Both silhouettes are perfect examples of the timeless design, and attention to detail that the New Balance ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ range represent. I’ll let the images do the rest of the talking, so make sure you head on over after the jump for all of the finer details of both silhouettes…

This coming Saturday February the 4th will see the release of New Balances collaborative efforts with Japanese brand Nonnative. The 997HNN’s will go on sale in store from 11am, with remaining pairs releasing online from 12pm. Head here for more detailed images and information on the release.

A few more snaps of what has been worn around the shop over the last few days. Myself in the 1300’s and 997’s and Jason in the 998’s!

This is what I wore yesterday. A great shoe for this current weather pattern of 30+ degrees!

With summer finally setting in, the days are looking to be warm and sunny, and Mr. Mannequin’s prepared himself for the slew of good weather ahead in the week’s outfit of the week.

Starting the outfit off Mr. Mannequin’s chosen to pair Tantum’s Paisley Pocket T-shirt in Heather Grey, with Bleu De Paname’s Fatigue Short in Vert D’eau. Adding red accents to his outfit with New Balance M1500CSW and our very own Monkey’s Fist in White With Red Flecks. Finishing the outfit off with all of his everyday carry inside his Superior Labor Market Bag in Brown.

With all of the pieces to this weeks outfit available both in store and online now, make sure you head on over after the jump for all of the finer details of Mr. Mannequins outfit.

For my last installment of Shoes For Summer I have, in my opinion, the best two New Balances we have had in store since we opened. Firstly the 1500PSW is one of the original OG colourways of the model. With a banging purple suede upper and mesh toebox, it was just too hard to say know to these and as you can see they have been taking a fair beating. The second NB shoe I have chosen is the 1300LG. In my opinion this was by far and away the sneaker of the year in 2011 and I seem to share that opinion with a few others as well. The 1300 model is one of the sleekest shoes New Balance creates. This particular variation came of NB’s Boston factory in the USA, which is currently producing the best quality sporting brand footwear in the world. This shoe has one of the softest uppers I have ever had the privileged of putting my feet into and the colourway is perfect for the Australian summer. For those that missed out on these (they sold out in about 2 weeks) don’t worry as we have at least three more colourways coming this year, and I think at least one of them will appear in my shoes for Winter 2012!

Our next limited release from New Balance comes in the form the 997HNN in collaboration with Japanese streetwear kings Nonnative. The shoe being dubbed ‘The Dunes’ features a sandy tonal upper comprised of Nubuck and Leather with a beautiful Mesh toebox. On the medial side of the shoe you will find a bright blue accent highlighting the instep, providing that little bit of POP every shoe needs. To keep things even more interesting the inner sole has the number ‘7’ from the 997 printed on top of the number ‘8’. This is to pay homage to the 998 midsole used on all new 997’s due to the breaking of the 997 midsole mould during the late 90’s.

This collaboration will be available exclusively at Up There in Australia and on sale at 11am on Saturday, February the 4th! This is our most limited New Balance collaboration to date so don’t sleep!

Peep the jump for some more detailed images!

Our first delivery of the year comes in the form of this fantastic New Balance 999. Comprised of predominately grey suede upper with a mesh toe box and hits of reflective 3M throughout, this is a classic from friends at New Balance. On sale now in store and online!

New Balance have delivered us yet another modern classic with their black and red rendition of the 998. This ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ edition of the classic 998 features a tonal black upper that utilizes a mixture of premium leathers and suedes with waxy canvas accents. All of this sits atop a white midsole and black sole with red accents for that extra bit of colour. The M998BR is available both in store and online now, and as always numbers are limited so get in quick or you might miss out!

Mr. Mannequin is back for one of his last installments of outfit of the week before the New Year, and he’s making this outfit count with the perfect combination of denim from Noir, and Superior Labor.

Starting the outfit of Mr mannequin has chosen Superior Labor’s Washed Denim Work Shirt, pairing this off with Noir’s Grey Summer Jean. The two tones of denim accent each other with the many little slubs in the linen-esque texture of their fabrics, both featuring that rinse washed finish for that rugged, pre-crinkled look that Mr. Mannequin is so fond of. To keep with the grey tones of the outfit, Mr. Mannequin has chosen to keep the sun out of his eyes with Shwood’s Grey Polarized Canby in Cherrywood, topping the it all off with a pair of New Balance’ M1300LG.

With all of the individual pieces for this weeks outfit available both in store and online, make sure you head on over after the jump for a look at the finer details of Mr. Mannequins choice of attire.