crooked tongues magazine News Features

The New Balance 576 is one of our Platonic Ideals of how a sneaker should look. Its old bestselling late ‘90s running partner, the 572 is pretty much forgotten, but this one’s got plenty more mileage. In premium, plush leathers it’s a good shoe (witness the current Lake District pack for proof of that), but when it’s in suede, it comes into its own. This duo, set for release soon, pick up where last season’s red, blue, grey and black popped off, offering UK-made (the definitive version) of this shoe in soft materials with a white leather ‘N’ weaning us off a preoccupation with reflective NB branding.

Lately we’ve been getting nostalgic for the Black/Orange, Lime, Georgetown-alikes and Cookie & Cream 2004 Crooked collaborations that struck a balance between hardwearing and more tactile fabrics. We’ve also been studying the catalogues with regards to past suede releases, and it’s colourways like this that had us hyped around the 1998 boomtime for this shoe — ten years after it sat alongside the 996 and 525, and was geared towards casual runners and walkers alike. The olive colour here feels the freshest, and the blast of white accent colouring on that neutral upper proves to be very, very immediate.

Spring’s offerings are trickling into the store, and we’re looking to these and those fine 574s (showcased here last week) arriving . We’ve also got to big up the Massachusetts born World Famous SuperFriends crew president, Mr. DJ Mars for his recent DJ Vlad New Balance collection showcase and Crooked Tongues shout out. He understands the power of releases like this, plus some connoisseur’s picks like 498s, 890s and the phenomenal Military 993 collection. Mars is a legend.