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There’s no denying that the New Balance 550 is among the hottest silhouettes available on the market proper now. Designed in 1989 by Steven Smith, the sneaker was made as a modification of the NB740—James Worthy’s signature sneaker—to appease the wants of highschool, school and choose Boston Celtics gamers. 

Smith, whose résumé contains the Reebok InstaPump Fury, NB997, Nike Zoom Spiridon 2 and choose Yeezy fashions, created the low-top counterpart, which featured pivot circles on the outsole, tip saddle foxing and a forefoot sway bar the place numeric branding was positioned. 

“I got that idea from automotive design language,” Smith stated to Sneaker Freaker. “It helped athletes keep their feet when they were running, cutting and changing direction rapidly.” 

Originally often called the 550 Basketball Oxford, the sneaker was priced at $45. After a small US run, the shoe was exported to UK and Asian markets earlier than it was finally shelved. Three a long time later the sneaker returned, thanks partially to Teddy Santis, founder and artistic director of the New York-based model Aimé Leon Dore. He sought to revive the mannequin after shopping a Japanese catalog. Santis and New Balance tracked down an unique pair from an abroad collector and instantly went to work. 

“We found a scan in our archives of the old tech pack Steven Smith drew by hand,” Paul Kaseumsouk, a product line supervisor at New Balance, informed Sneaker Freaker. “Nailing down the shape, the tooling, every single stitch line down to the millimeter—we obsessed over it. It took us 10 rounds of samples and 18 months of trial and error to get it to where we wanted to be.” 

Santis’ ALD and the Boston-based model had already fashioned a partnership, releasing a myriad of collaborations—997s, 990v2s, 990v5s, 827s and 1300s. For the 550’s return, ALD launched 4 colorways as a part of their “International Friendship Through Basketball” assortment, with slight updates to the 31-year-old sneaker. The white leather-based was changed with eggshell tones and the midsoles featured an aged aesthetic. 

Aside from ALD, different cultural figures have been in a position to put their touches on the 550, and a slew of inline colorways have been launched during the last two years. As a part of his “Conversations Among Us” initiative, Chicago inventive Joseph Robinson, aka Joe Freshgoods, launched his iteration of the late ’80s basketball sneaker—a cream canvas higher with furry suede overlays and an aged yellow midsole—final April. 

Klutch founder Rich Paul additionally has his personal set of 550s. Two years after changing into the primary sports activities agent to have a sneaker collaboration, Paul and New Balance launched a pair with an off-white perforated leather-based higher, navy detailing and yellowed New Balance logos. His identify was featured on the woven labels and insoles to customise the design in a method just like most player-edition sneakers.

Paul’s sophomore collab, which launched again in July, encompasses a premium lavender suede higher with purple accents. His identify makes one other look on the tongue tag, with contrasting white shoelaces, a white midsole and a lavender-colored outsole to complete off the look. 

“The 550s for me have always been about that nostalgic feel,” Paul informed Esquire final month. “I had this feeling about the 550, and for the first [collab], I thought the 550 silhouette wasn’t new, but it wasn’t really known or understood. Now I feel like more of the masses are aligned with the 550, so I wanted to bring it back one more time. The next one will be a different silhouette.” 

Nearly three years because the return of a as soon as forgotten mannequin, Kaseumsouk admits he didn’t know the impression the shoe would have on right now’s sneaker tradition. 

“We knew we had something special with the 550 and that ALD was going to tell that story perfectly,” he informed Sneaker Freaker. “But we didn’t know just how big it was going to be.” 

Photo by way of Getty Images.