Source: NEW BALANCE & SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN UNVEIL THE STAR ATHLETES FIRST SIGNATURE COLLECTION I was reminded by the team at New Balance that they couldn’t share or highlight their athletes during the Tokyo Olympics. As soon as the event ended and the window of restriction was over, New Balance jumped in and launched a signature…
While I could have spent time finding something negative to build a discussion around, I decided that this Juneteenth weekend was a good time to celebrate three sneaker companies making an effort to deliver opportunities to African-American creatives. Reebok’s Reconnect is a beautiful short film campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60vbaeIP8p4 The man behind the film: https://news.reebok.com/global/latest-news/all/reebok-unveils-first-look-at-new-brand-aesthetic-with-video-series-centered-on-sports-and-community/s/15336997-6326-410a-8199-7e58a19bdc0c K-Swiss’ Documentary…
Every other site has covered the collab between New Balance and Bricks & Wood. I’m looking at this from a different angle. Recently, I wrote about K-Swiss’ return to Los Angeles and their attempt to reconnect with the Black consumer. In a video, created by Baron Davis’ SLIC productions, Bricks & Wood announced that they…
Source: NEW BALANCE SIGNS BOSTON CELTICS ROOKIE AARON NESMITH New Balance has been active in adding sponsorships and endorsements. The brand has been signing athletes in basketball and soccer. They have also made it a point to lock up Boston College in a long-term deal. This is in contrast to what their immediate competition is…
Source: https://vimeo.com/535695413 I often refer to the film Finding Forrester when I talk with students about writing. There is a moment in the film right before Ornette Coleman’s disjointed jazz begins to play when the main character Jamaal is sitting with Forrester attempting to break out of writer’s block. At that moment, Forrester tells him,…
Teddy Santis Named Creative Director of New Balance MADE in USA The owner and founder of Aimé Leon Dore will team up with New Balance for a long-term relationship Boston, MA – April 5, 2021 Source: Teddy Santis Named Creative Director of New Balance MADE in USA I’ve explained on this site for a few…
Source: AS Roma joins New Balance Last week I discussed Nike’s acquisition of Datalogue: Nike Continues its Acquisition of Tech to Advance CDA with Data Integration Company Datalogue While this isn’t exactly a similar tech move by NB, it does show how brands are finding new ways to engage a diverse marketplace, but as a…
Are collections acknowledging Black History Month, commodification or celebration? Nike and adidas have both gotten these collections wrong and smaller brands are now taking on the process of bringing attention to the rich contributions made by Blacks in America. Delivering a collection is complex. Everyone won’t like what’s being done, and this makes the task…
Buy my books on the sneaker industry: https://amzn.to/3lD82gb New Balance x Pensole on FootLocker: https://www.footlocker.com/category/collection/new-balance-pensole.html?fbclid=IwAR1FDxTx0oIIvvqwHUsDu4dDwGYTPHyEK3I3A8vnSnLkr5LDnfWc58fxc-U New Balance x Pensole Video on NB YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1UEAU9v6pg I’ve been writing about the relationship between Pensole and FootLocker since I learned that they placed seed money into the Instructional Design Academy. I’ve long discussed that retail will have to…
Source: NEW BALANCE AND KAWHI LEONARD LAUNCH FIRST COLORWAY OF THE KAWHI There are recent reports of NBA viewership being down and it’s being blamed on the proactive stance of the NBA on social justice issues. That could be a factor, but to be honest I don’t think it is. The NBA has been growing…
Source: NEW BALANCE AND JADEN SMITH LAUNCH NEW FOOTWEAR COLLABORATION Willow just dropped details on her collab with Onitsuka Tiger; and not to be outdone Jaden and New Balance collide to create a vegan friendly sneaker for the Icon emcee and actor. OnitsukaTiger × Willow Smith But… This wouldn’t be an arch-usa.com post if I…
Source: NEW BALANCE OPENS STATE-OF-THE-ART CONECPT SHOP IN TOKYO, JAPAN COVID-19 continues to disrupt business practices around the world. In Asia they have begun to adjust to life post COVID and companies are beginning to implement strategies and plans that will enhance their connections with the consumer. New Balance has been delivering a steady stream…
nnnThe New Balance 650 x No Vacancy Inn StockX IPO is in the books with nearly 14,000 Bids. Read how it went down in our official recap. Source: New Balance 650 x No Vacancy Inn IPO Recap – StockX News Last year I discussed the absence of discussion around the adidas Campus 80s x StockX…
Source: NEW BALANCE FOUNDATION PLEDGES $2 MILLION TO SUPPORT COVID-19 RELIEF EFFORTS Before I jumped back into writing about the industry I thought it was important to take a few minutes to share the sneaker companies who have made financial contributions to efforts to fight COVID-19. I visited over 20 footwear brand websites and only…
New Balance Becomes an Official Marketing Partner of the NBA Source: New Balance and NBA Announce Multiyear Global Agreement Where do people get their sneaker information? Do people actually look up information about sneakers? Are parents who are low to middle income with children researching running shoes or are they looking for the best prices?…
Source: The KAWHI Signature Shoe Revealed All-Star Weekend is the biggest sneaker moment of the year. The NBA takes over a city and activations from brands are at the forefront of all discussion on websites and even people who aren’t interested in sneaker ‘culture’ become aware of the shoes that the NBA athletes are wearing….
Levi’s® Employees Respond: What Does Black History Month Mean to You? on Off The Cuff Source: Levi’s® Employees Respond: What Does Black History Month Mean to You? | Off The Cuff Commodification happens so often that we overlook when it’s occurring and this contributes to apathy. Black people find themselves in the uncomfortable position of…
New Balance’s “Inspire The Dream” collection was inspired by Kawhi’s personal story Source: Kawhi’s “Inspire The Dream” Collection Launches Jan. 30 Updated: In my haste, I made a mistake by not completely researching the project created by New Balance. I utilized their PR from their site which unfortunately didn’t state who worked on this project…
The “City of Angels” OMN1S is the sixth of seven colorways to release over the remainder of 2019. Available December 12th at 10:00am ET online in the US, Canada, Europe, China, Singapore, Ho Source: The OMN1S City of Angels Drops December 12th 20 years ago there weren’t any sneaker blogs. The only place info on…
Source: Test Run Project 3.0 New Balance has been doing a solid job of rolling out product lately. Even with my constant harping on how the basketball division isn’t doing the things I’d like them to do, the footwear being designed is unique and and different than what you’d expect from the N. I’ve discussed…
Source: Dejounte Murray Joins New Balance and Inspires Us In New Commercial Spot New Balance’s entrance back into basketball has been a slow calculated development that I’ve discussed as positive and negative. The recent addition of San Antonio Spurs PG Dejounte Murray gave me two responses again. I tend to be hot and cold on…
Not to beat a dead horse, but this roll out of the Kawhi 1 (I refuse to call the shoe the OMN1S) hints at either the most measured cool I’ve ever seen out of a brand, or the most inept brand at capitalizing on opportunity. If I had to choose one, I couldn’t. Whatever Kawhi…
