Best of New Balance 2023
were some of 2023s other highlight collaborations had a stellar year. They unsurprisingly took out the top spot for the brand whose has increased the most over the last 12 months. They've been on fire with colabs in particular this year, crafting timeless pieces that still hold solid design value. The 1906R is one of their newest silhouettes, and it attracted some of these top-notch colabs, with co-signs from , , and . Their general releases also rose temps, and FhyzicsShops had some special moments with the Boston brand.
followed suit, with the duo rounding it all out with a duo of highly underrated.
MADE in USA
is still at the helm of New Balance MADE in USA and continues to provide the sneakersphere with epic seasonal collections. Following the designer’s debut year as creative director, 2023 saw a wider array of models used including the was a new face this year, dropping two variations of the . While pairs didn’t sell through as quickly as the previous year, Santis still crafted some epic colour combos. One of the highlights was the New Balance ‘White/Green’ which boasted simplistic colour-blocking and subtle faux-vintage vibes. A second highlight was the and ‘Green and Gold’, closely followed by the ‘Olive Leaf’ NB990v4 and NB998.
Aimé Leon Dore
Speaking of Teddy Santis, his own brand, continued its longstanding partnership with New Balance throughout this year. Despite not being as hype as the years gone by, ALD came correct with plenty of crisp collaborative models. Kicking off the year, they dropped the , resurrected the on the cover of . More and newest NB colab .
General Release Heat
It wasn’t all premium nubuck and silhouettes made in the USA or UK that caught our eye this year. New Balance’s general release offering stepped it up a notch throughout the year, especially with their . Designer Yue Wu, who was responsible for the ‘Protection Pack’, seems to be in charge of the model, and has been crafting crisp colourways for everyone to enjoy. The , , , and continued to dominate the streets throughout 2023 – it was hard to walk around in public without catching a pair on-foot.
Collaborative Clout
In 2023, New Balance collaborative output rivalled that of their biggest competitors, as they linked with a wide range of creatives to craft some perfectly executed linkups. was one of the highlights, joining forces multiple times with the Boston-based brand for three-way linkups. The first was with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to craft a clean that took inspiration from the late architects Broadacre City concept. The second was the sought-after venture with Madison Square Garden that saw covered in New York-inspired builds. Another familiar face returned to the New Balance roster, and that was , returning for the first time since 2013. had a stellar year. They unsurprisingly took out the top spot for the brand whose , alongside who showed he knows how to design a shoe. Rounding it out, , and were some of 2023’s other highlight collaborations.
FhyzicsShops Events
Together, and New Balance celebrated plenty of milestones in 2023, with some of them together! This year, we partnered with the Boston-based brand to celebrate two key moments for them. The first was Melbourne’s , which helped celebrate New Balance’s iconic colour. The second party went down in Seoul, where together we celebrated the iconic and the rich history behind the iconic late-80s model. To close out the year, we also had the conversible reveal of newest NB colab, , on the cover of !