Source: NEW BALANCE UNVEILS THE NEW TWO WXY V3 HIGH PERFORMANCE BASKETBALL SHOE
TWO WXY V3, the third iteration remains under the FuelCell platform and is packed with design and tech built for the position-less player. The first colorway of the TWO WXY v3, called Cerebral, will be available at New Balance retail stores, www.newbalance.com and select retailers November 4th, 2022 with the suggested retail price of $120. Additional colorways will launch throughout the season and will continue to tell stories about the talented athletes who are a part of the New Balance family. Key colorways include Jamaica which draws inspiration from Jamal Murray’s roots, Windy City that honors Zach LaVine’s home away from home, Stonecutters that plays into the nostalgia of the game for Dejounte Murray and other colors that give fans insight into the athletes that they love.
Basketball has been dominated by Nike for so long, people don’t remember why, and many don’t recall the classic campaigns which made Nike the force in hoops. Nike ads in the 80s were posters you can buy at the mall or at Foot Locker. There were pictures of “The Iceman” on a throne, or Moses parting the red sea wearing Air Force 1s. Nike recreated one of their classic campaigns for the Nike Air Force 1 SF, taking sneaker culture back to their Moses Malone and George Gervin days in 2017 as basketball sneaker sales continued to cool. Unlike the classic Nike ad from the 80s, basketball became the backdrop instead of the primary purpose. The Nike AF1 SF was an off the court, lifestyle option, but the picture was an allusion to Nike’s foundational hoops ads:
adidas captured a moment in basketball with a campaign that elevated their roster of athletes in print ads which players tore out of magazines and placed in lockers, locker rooms and on bedroom walls of ballers aspiring to one day make the roster as an endorsed athlete. The campaigns expressed the importance of brotherhood in basketball and delivered a visual allowing you to know who was rocking with adidas. The slogan for the ad was a play on Kevin Garnett’s scream as he won his first championship, “Impossible is Nothing”. I pulled this pic from an old Dime Magazine:
Even And1 understood the importance of introducing their roster. As And1’s business began falling off because of the brand’s mistreatment of its streetball roster, the original owners sold the brand and focused on endorsing a roster of NBA athletes who they thought could carry the edginess of the Mixtape Tour. It didn’t work because removing the element of marketing that created the company left And1 dependent on NBA stars who were not top tiered talent comparable to the roster adidas and Nike had at that time. Nike had usurped And1 with their Nike Freestyle ad spot and the damage was done, but this roster imagery was a final shot before the complete fall (I took this pic from another Dime Magazine from 2007):
New Balance just dropped visuals highlighting the talented roster of young NBA players they’ve signed. The NBA’s most memorable recent Slam Dunk Champion, Zach Levine, is given a moment in the “Bred” colors of the Bulls. Their subtle placement of Jamal Murray in the center shows who is coming back to make New Balance the next roster in the NBA. Although this is a team sneaker spot, New Balance makes sure it doesn’t ignore it’s one signature hooper by recreating the arrival to Los Angeles ad from when Kawhi moved to the Clippers. Kawhi pulls up, ICON thumping as the background music, and his entrance into the gym is acknowledged by all. The full circle moment of Jaden Smith’s music playing tied another endorsed member of Team New Balance into the work.
Are the Sneakers Dope Though?
I’ve been writing for a few years that basketball performance footwear would bounce back, but it would take a video to explain why I was wrong. I’ll drop that video, but here is a short version of why I was wrong. Youth culture isn’t isolated to sports. Kids can pursue pathways in influencer marketing and gaming. The exclusive nature of youth sports pushed many kids away from the game of basketball. This diminished basketball. I was wrong about basketball returning to prominence because as sports became less important, the rise of social media made lifestyle sneakers the wave. I failed to predict the return of basketball because I never factored in how social media would turn hoopers into influencers crafting a new generating of the And1 Mixtape Tour.
In the last two years basketball sneakers have seen a revival, but not because of NBA athletes. There are a host of factors in why hoops shoes are once again relevant. The list has too much to write about here, but design is one. Note that the new TWO WXY is a low-cut model. This is in line with the design aesthetics of the best-selling sneakers in hoops right now. The revival has a lot to do with design, but at the core of the recovering market is the combination of social media and basketball. Youth culture is more engaged in basketball than any time in the last ten to fifteen years. This deserves a deeper dive, but New Balance is right on time with their promotion of their team basketball model. They nailed this campaign. To answer the question “are they dope?” doesn’t matter as much as “do they perform?” Basketball sneakers are back to what they were designed to do, hoop. It does help that these kicks can be worn off the court as well. Use the source link to read more about the Two WXY V3.