crooked tongues magazine News Features

New Balance 574s remain absurdly underrated. For years, they trudged behind the UK-made 1500, the US-made 1300 and the Asian-made oddness of the MT580. They've always been around (well, since '88), their ever-reasonable pricepoint seems to give them an attainability that diminishes desire for them, and beyond ENCAP, they've never been much more than a hobbyist number from a performance angle. We've long loved them, but for many, they've been the frumpier younger sister to the 576 and 577. This always irritated us.

While Raekwon—a New Balance fan of some repute—shouted the more premium runner with the “Green Huaraches, unattached shit, 575 blue Bals, blue Bals/Bo Jacksons grey and black, ready to throw my hands flashin’…” on 'Sneakers', we saw him styling in 574s back when the Wu were at their prime. Then New Balance US unleashed the tremendous Clips collection, all made in America. Months later, we saw our first glimpse of the sonic welded versions. Someone seemed keen to elevate the 574 in a major way.

You haven't seen the last of the Sonic variations by any means, with some heavy-hitters getting involved, but the blowback from the hype has been a push for a more traditional China-made brace of makeups. These three colourways just seem to match our current sartorial mood. This is no-nonsense footwear that utilises the reflective 'N' that's always a winner as a focal point. Black and navy suede are good, but we like the olive green the best right now. We were a little shaken when everything seemed to take on a thematic edge a while back, but in recent seasons, New Balance has been bringing the basics back with a certain pride. These and the impending suede 576s are perfect proof of that, and they hit the store soon...

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