New Balance 1890: structure, balance, shape.

New Balance 1890: structure, balance, shape.

Ci siamo già avvicinati al New Balance 1890 una volta. Era attraverso una poesia. Attraverso l’atmosfera. Attraverso l’idea di equilibrio come qualcosa che si percepisce prima ancora di definirlo.

Questo è il secondo sguardo: molto meno astratto, più concreto. Una lettura più ravvicinata di ciò che rende davvero il 1890 efficace: costruzione, riferimenti e la logica dietro l’ibrido.

Il 1890 non deriva da un singolo modello d’archivio. È costruito (deliberatamente) a partire da due momenti diversi nella storia di New Balance.

Nella parte superiore, l’influenza è chiara: il 890v3 del 2013. Un runner performance di un’epoca in cui l’ingegneria leggera iniziava ad assumere forme più espressive.

Lo si vede nella struttura: tagli sintetici a onda che frammentano la tomaia in movimento, accenti riflettenti “a goccia” che catturano la luce senza eccessi, una base in mesh ingegnerizzato che mantiene tutto traspirante ma controllato.

È tecnico, ma non aggressivo. Un linguaggio di design che si colloca tra performance e fluidità.

Poi arriva il cambiamento.

Sotto il piede, il 1890 non segue il percorso previsto. Invece di prendere in prestito dal più comune 2002R, torna al tooling originale del 2002. Questa scelta è importante.

La suola è più pesante, più sostanziale: ammortizzazione ABZORB completa orientata all’assorbimento degli impatti, una sensazione più densa e stabile sotto il piede, un peso visivo che ancora la tomaia. Dove la parte superiore si muove, quella inferiore stabilizza. Questa tensione definisce la scarpa.

Il debutto non è stato silenzioso. Il 1890 è arrivato nel 2026 attraverso una collaborazione con Action Bronson: due colorazioni che hanno subito dato il tono: Cyborg Tears e Hornet Tusk. Non erano sottili. Ma hanno chiarito il potenziale della silhouette.

Palette audaci su un design che può anche essere ridotto all’essenziale. Espressivo, senza essere vincolato a un’unica identità.

Il New Balance 1890 funziona perché ogni parte mantiene la propria integrità: la tomaia del 890v3 porta leggerezza e ritmo, la suola del 2002 introduce peso e stabilità… nessuna sovrasta l’altra.

Non è solo una combinazione: è un equilibrio. E non in senso concettuale, ma in come la scarpa si posiziona realmente, sia visivamente che fisicamente.

Ciò che distingue il 1890 non sono solo i riferimenti, ma la moderazione nel loro utilizzo. Nessuna aggiunta superflua. Nessuna stratificazione eccessiva. Solo una decisione chiara: prendere due elementi forti, lasciarli convivere e non interferire troppo.

Questa chiarezza è rara.

Se il primo contenuto parlava di sensazioni, questo riguarda la conferma. La costruzione regge. I riferimenti hanno senso. L’esecuzione è precisa. E nel complesso è difficile negarlo: il New Balance 1890 non è solo interessante per un momento. È qui per restare… finché disponibile.

Torna al blog

Lascia un commento

Si prega di notare che, prima di essere pubblicati, i commenti devono essere approvati.

Otros blog posts

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 2: One Night at Gallery Noir

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 2: One Night at ...

Part 2 of our New Balance 1890 project: we turned Espacio Amen in Malasaña into Gallery Noir to show four photographers' work on analog film.

Lire la suite

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 2: One Night at ...

Part 2 of our New Balance 1890 project: we turned Espacio Amen in Malasaña into Gallery Noir to show four photographers' work on analog film.

Lire la suite
Kiko Kostadinov x Oakley Ellipse: Feathers, Wood Grain and a Logo You Can Wear

Kiko Kostadinov x Oakley Ellipse: Feathers, Woo...

The Kiko Kostadinov x Oakley Ellipse brings feather and wood grain finishes off the Paris runway. Amherst Fade with Prizm Bronze lenses at NOIRFONCE Madrid.

Lire la suite

Kiko Kostadinov x Oakley Ellipse: Feathers, Woo...

The Kiko Kostadinov x Oakley Ellipse brings feather and wood grain finishes off the Paris runway. Amherst Fade with Prizm Bronze lenses at NOIRFONCE Madrid.

Lire la suite
Tom Sachs x NikeCraft GPS "Demerits": Break the Rules, Wear the Penalty

Tom Sachs x NikeCraft GPS "Demerits": Break the...

The Tom Sachs x NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe "Demerits" (FZ1363-002): a black leather GPS born from a school dress code and a marker pen. Out Sept 30.

Lire la suite

Tom Sachs x NikeCraft GPS "Demerits": Break the...

The Tom Sachs x NikeCraft General Purpose Shoe "Demerits" (FZ1363-002): a black leather GPS born from a school dress code and a marker pen. Out Sept 30.

Lire la suite
Mowalola x Air Jordan 14: A Relic, Waiting to Be Found

Mowalola x Air Jordan 14: A Relic, Waiting to B...

The Air Jordan 14 designed by Tinker Hatfield and released in 1998, takes its cues from the Ferrari 550 Maranello: a crest-like badge, a sole that nods to racing tyres, and seven Jumpman logos hidden across the shoe, as if waiting to be counted. It's the shoe Michael Jordan wore for the Last Shot in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. Few Jordan silhouettes carry that much story in that much detail. Now Mowalola Ogunlesi has taken hold of it. Born in Lagos, trained at Central Saint Martins, former design director of Yeezy Gap, she is one of the most distinctive voices in fashion today. Her first Jordan Brand collaboration is an AJ14 in Black/Burnt Red–Metallic Gold (IQ5708-001), unveiled in Paris this summer. The campaign is called "Something's Off". It's a good title. Because something is. The upper is a burnt red-brown that looks aged rather than new, as if it has already lived a life. The midsole is blacked out. Plaid appears where you least expect it: at the heel and throughout the lining, red against black. The side window, traditionally home to the shield-shaped crest, now holds a round branded emblem. Underneath, "XIV" and a Jumpman sit in deep wine red, while touches of metallic gold keep the Ferrari roots quietly in view. Alongside it, Mowalola also released a backless AJ14 mule in aged metallic silver. Then there's the lettering. "MOWALOLA" runs across the side panels in an oversized cursive script, closer to a signature than a logo. It isn't printed. It's stitched: a dotted line of thread traces every letter, so the name feels drawn rather than stamped. On the insole, the same script returns on a bordeaux-red graphic, just below the Jumpman. This matters because the Air Jordan 14 is a shoe built on logos. Seven Jumpmen, a crest, a "23", an "XIV". Everything is precise, engineered, placed with the discipline of a car designer. Mowalola answers all of it with one word, written the way you would sign something you made yourself. Cursive is personal. It's a little imperfect, a little intimate, and it never looks exactly the same twice. Against the clean geometry of a Ferrari-inspired silhouette, it reads like a name carved into something old. A mark left by whoever held it before you. And the word itself is not just a brand. Mowalola is the designer's first name. On this shoe, the brand and the person are the same thing, written in the same hand. Who drew it? Neither Jordan Brand nor Mowalola has publicly credited a lettering artist for the collaboration. What we know is that the script is Mowalola's own signature mark, and that on the AJ14 it was translated into thread rather than ink. There's something about Jordans above the 11 these days. The 12s, 13s, 14s and beyond don't carry the same noise as the early numbers, and that's exactly what makes them exciting. Picking one up feels like discovery. The tones, the lines, the details you only notice the second or third time you look. They reward attention. With this AJ14, we wanted to take that feeling further. The aged upper, the muted palette, a name stitched into its side: the shoe almost feels like a relic. Something unearthed rather than unboxed. Something that needs to be delicately discovered. So we went after that idea in a dramatic way -deep shadow. Light used sparingly, only where it needs to fall. Details revealed one at a time, the stitching, the plaid, the gold, the way you would uncover an artefact: slowly, carefully, without rushing to see it all at once. We didn't want the images to explain the shoe. We wanted them to make you lean in. Photography has always been one of the ways we think about objects, from our own shoots to the work we admire, like Paolo Roversi's Doubts. Here, the goal was simple: treat a sneaker with the patience you would give to something rare. The Air Jordan 14 was designed around speed, precision and a car built in Maranello. Mowalola slowed it down. She aged it, marked it and signed it, and turned one of the most engineered shoes in the archive into something that feels personal. Some sneakers are made to be seen. This one is made to be found. The Air Jordan 14 x Mowalola "Burnt Red" is available now at Noirfonce. Explore the rest of our Jordan collection, or read about another Jordan collaboration rooted in culture: Jordan 16 x Free the Youth.

Lire la suite

Mowalola x Air Jordan 14: A Relic, Waiting to B...

The Air Jordan 14 designed by Tinker Hatfield and released in 1998, takes its cues from the Ferrari 550 Maranello: a crest-like badge, a sole that nods to racing tyres, and seven Jumpman logos hidden across the shoe, as if waiting to be counted. It's the shoe Michael Jordan wore for the Last Shot in Game 6 of the 1998 Finals. Few Jordan silhouettes carry that much story in that much detail. Now Mowalola Ogunlesi has taken hold of it. Born in Lagos, trained at Central Saint Martins, former design director of Yeezy Gap, she is one of the most distinctive voices in fashion today. Her first Jordan Brand collaboration is an AJ14 in Black/Burnt Red–Metallic Gold (IQ5708-001), unveiled in Paris this summer. The campaign is called "Something's Off". It's a good title. Because something is. The upper is a burnt red-brown that looks aged rather than new, as if it has already lived a life. The midsole is blacked out. Plaid appears where you least expect it: at the heel and throughout the lining, red against black. The side window, traditionally home to the shield-shaped crest, now holds a round branded emblem. Underneath, "XIV" and a Jumpman sit in deep wine red, while touches of metallic gold keep the Ferrari roots quietly in view. Alongside it, Mowalola also released a backless AJ14 mule in aged metallic silver. Then there's the lettering. "MOWALOLA" runs across the side panels in an oversized cursive script, closer to a signature than a logo. It isn't printed. It's stitched: a dotted line of thread traces every letter, so the name feels drawn rather than stamped. On the insole, the same script returns on a bordeaux-red graphic, just below the Jumpman. This matters because the Air Jordan 14 is a shoe built on logos. Seven Jumpmen, a crest, a "23", an "XIV". Everything is precise, engineered, placed with the discipline of a car designer. Mowalola answers all of it with one word, written the way you would sign something you made yourself. Cursive is personal. It's a little imperfect, a little intimate, and it never looks exactly the same twice. Against the clean geometry of a Ferrari-inspired silhouette, it reads like a name carved into something old. A mark left by whoever held it before you. And the word itself is not just a brand. Mowalola is the designer's first name. On this shoe, the brand and the person are the same thing, written in the same hand. Who drew it? Neither Jordan Brand nor Mowalola has publicly credited a lettering artist for the collaboration. What we know is that the script is Mowalola's own signature mark, and that on the AJ14 it was translated into thread rather than ink. There's something about Jordans above the 11 these days. The 12s, 13s, 14s and beyond don't carry the same noise as the early numbers, and that's exactly what makes them exciting. Picking one up feels like discovery. The tones, the lines, the details you only notice the second or third time you look. They reward attention. With this AJ14, we wanted to take that feeling further. The aged upper, the muted palette, a name stitched into its side: the shoe almost feels like a relic. Something unearthed rather than unboxed. Something that needs to be delicately discovered. So we went after that idea in a dramatic way -deep shadow. Light used sparingly, only where it needs to fall. Details revealed one at a time, the stitching, the plaid, the gold, the way you would uncover an artefact: slowly, carefully, without rushing to see it all at once. We didn't want the images to explain the shoe. We wanted them to make you lean in. Photography has always been one of the ways we think about objects, from our own shoots to the work we admire, like Paolo Roversi's Doubts. Here, the goal was simple: treat a sneaker with the patience you would give to something rare. The Air Jordan 14 was designed around speed, precision and a car built in Maranello. Mowalola slowed it down. She aged it, marked it and signed it, and turned one of the most engineered shoes in the archive into something that feels personal. Some sneakers are made to be seen. This one is made to be found. The Air Jordan 14 x Mowalola "Burnt Red" is available now at Noirfonce. Explore the rest of our Jordan collection, or read about another Jordan collaboration rooted in culture: Jordan 16 x Free the Youth.

Lire la suite
Adidas BadBo 1.1: Bad Bunny, Turned Down Low

Adidas BadBo 1.1: Bad Bunny, Turned Down Low

The adidas BadBo 1.1 by Bad Bunny: a bulky low-top with heritage details, shot in a music studio, plus his journey from SoundCloud to fashion.

Lire la suite

Adidas BadBo 1.1: Bad Bunny, Turned Down Low

The adidas BadBo 1.1 by Bad Bunny: a bulky low-top with heritage details, shot in a music studio, plus his journey from SoundCloud to fashion.

Lire la suite
New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 1: Four Photographers, Three Rolls, No Rules

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 1: Four Photogra...

We gave four photographers three pairs of New Balance 1890 and three rolls of analog film. Part 1: a first look, and a question about creative freedom.

Lire la suite

New Balance 1890 on Film, Part 1: Four Photogra...

We gave four photographers three pairs of New Balance 1890 and three rolls of analog film. Part 1: a first look, and a question about creative freedom.

Lire la suite
Formula 1 Returns to Madrid: The Spanish Grand Prix at Madring

Formula 1 Returns to Madrid: The Spanish Grand ...

F1 is back in Madrid for the first time since 1981. We lived the first Spanish Grand Prix at Madring from the Audi Club Paddock, thanks to adidas Spain.

Lire la suite

Formula 1 Returns to Madrid: The Spanish Grand ...

F1 is back in Madrid for the first time since 1981. We lived the first Spanish Grand Prix at Madring from the Audi Club Paddock, thanks to adidas Spain.

Lire la suite
Noirfonce Paddock x adidas - Making It 1 of 1

Noirfonce Paddock x adidas - Making It 1 of 1

Custom adidas denim jackets, a breakfast workshop and a Scalextric track. Day 2 of Noirfonce Paddock with adidas Spain, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lire la suite

Noirfonce Paddock x adidas - Making It 1 of 1

Custom adidas denim jackets, a breakfast workshop and a Scalextric track. Day 2 of Noirfonce Paddock with adidas Spain, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lire la suite