9060

Honouring history

New Balance has long held a reputation for creating high-quality athletic footwear, but in the late 2010s, the brand began to grow its presence in the lifestyle market as well. It did so mostly by rereleasing its heritage running shoes, which happened to fit into the emerging normcore trend. Fashionable people of all ages took to wearing so-called ‘dad shoes’ – chunky performance sneakers built for comfort with mesh uppers and plenty of leather panelling – and New Balance was one of the top choices. The brand also used its extensive archives to source ideas for original designs, and in 2019 two designers were tasked with developing a new sneaker that honoured the company’s past while also looking to its future. They produced the New Balance 9060: a distinctive lifestyle silhouette that paid homage to some of the most iconic sporting footwear of the Y2K era.

Two talented designers

New Balance’s executives knew that they would need a talented team to design a shoe which effectively melded the past, present and future of the brand, so they picked two talented creatives with plenty of experience. The first was Senior Footwear Director, James Lee, who had worked at the company since 2014, contributing to the Trailbuster Freshfoam hiking shoe and a sporty version of the 997, amongst others. His partner was the visionary Yue Wu, who, while only having worked with New Balance for two years at the time, had a background in engineering and a strong knowledge of performance design. This gave him an entirely different perspective to Lee, whose more traditional career trajectory had seen him develop his skills at a range of footwear companies before arriving at New Balance. With their contrasting work histories giving each a distinct style, the pair had the potential to be a great team, and they would need to be as the world was about to throw them a huge challenge that would require all their ingenuity to overcome.

A new way of working

After coming together towards the end of 2019, Lee and Wu barely had time to get going with the 9060 before the global pandemic struck. All traditional ways of working suddenly halted, and the designers were confined to their homes along with most of the population. No longer could they sit in a room together brainstorming ideas and physically handling prototypes to see how best to progress the design. Now, they had to collaborate remotely, relying on video calls, messaging and digital modelling to share information. Undeterred, they persevered with this new way of working, and soon came to appreciate that it had its own benefits. Rather than constantly being together, this method allowed a more considered approach which Lee himself has since described as “invigorating”. It offered them the time and space to go away and think carefully through their ideas before returning to the table to discuss them as a team.

Finding inspiration

Having adjusted to remote collaboration, the designers delved into the New Balance archives to find inspiration. Recent releases included the 327, which was based on two pioneering running shoes from the 1970s, and the 57/40, which reworked the incredibly popular 574 from 1988, with elements derived from both the original model and the 90s iterations that followed. Following this progression logically, Lee and Wu decided to look for inspiration in the retrofuturist styles that were popular around the turn of the millennium and beyond. They settled on various models from the epic 99X series, which had been going since the early 80s and was reinvigorated with new models in each subsequent decade. Then, they brought in aspects of the 860v2 – a performance runner which had first come out in the early 2010s before being reissued just as the 9060 project was getting underway in 2019. All of these shoes were made first and foremost for athletics, and as such, their success was built upon the idea of motion, specifically how their disparate components worked together to give the wearer that feeling of dynamic movement. Thus, it became one of the key concepts behind the 9060, informing both its aesthetic and its technology.

A dramatic upper

With the inspirations behind the shoe set, the team divided into two groups, Wu focusing on the upper and Lee taking care of the sole unit. For the upper, Wu’s aim was to take classic features from earlier models and reinterpret them in unexpected ways so as to forge something exaggerated and dramatic. One great example of this was the use of Sway Bars across the upper – a feature lifted directly from the 990 and applied in broader and more numerous bands to give the 9060 the feeling of motion its designers desired. The most recognisable aspect of any New Balance silhouette is the large ‘N’ symbol on each flank, and rather than sticking with the symmetrical look of most sneakers, Wu adorned its sidewalls with mismatched logos. On the lateral side was a silvery reflective ‘N’, while the medial one was seamlessly blended into the overlays as its shape was defined by a series of thickly embroidered bars. The rest of the upper consisted of a base layer of breathable mesh with various suede and leather panels placed atop one another to create geometric patterns across its surface. More branding was elegantly sewn into the bottom of the eyestay and the centre of the heel, but Wu did something truly unique for the tongue patch. He based it on the piece of ABZORB cushioning visible in the forefoot of the 991, drawing on its irregular triangle shape and its glossy jewelled finish to craft a distinctive emblem for the 9060 that honoured the 2001 sneaker.

A bold and supportive sole unit

As Wu was putting together this eye-catching upper, Lee was doing something equally bold with the sole unit. He filled the dual-density midsole with huge arcing pods of ABZORB cushioning that visibly stood out from the rest of the shoe, lifting it high off the ground while also providing maximum shock absorption and comfort. The heel was stabilised with specialised ABZORB SBS cushioning, and the durable rubber outsole featured six massive tread structures, four in the forefoot, two below the heel, each one with a diamond shape at its centre. These were exaggerated versions of the grip design found around the edge of the 860’s outsole, thus paying homage to this earlier model both in its appearance and by delivering similarly high levels of traction. Around the heel, Lee added another iconic piece of New Balance technology in the form of a CR device, once again drawing attention to its presence by making it extra large. Originally designed to stabilise the brand’s 990 running shoes through a motion-controlling effect, the CR device was made from a sturdy plastic which Lee further enhanced by giving it a textured appearance and a translucent finish. As well as producing a captivating glossy effect, this functional component helped to support the foot, just like the more subtle versions it was based on.

The finished product

Lee and Wu spent over two years developing a model they were both happy with. Thanks to their hard work and the strong relationship they had built during this time, when it came to the prototyping phase, things ran incredibly smoothly, and the pair had their finished product after just a couple of revisions. They still needed a name, so they combined those of its foremost influences, the 990 and the 860, to get the 9060, thus perfectly encapsulating the new expression of the iconic models that the shoe represented. All that was left to do was decide on a colour scheme for the first releases, but for this, they looked to another creative partner: Joe Freshgoods.

Joe Freshgoods

By the early 2020s, New Balance had become renowned for its output of stylish collaborative sneakers designed with a host of creators and fashion labels from across the industry. One of these was Chicago’s Joe Robinson, who, under his Joe Freshgoods brand, created versions of the 992, the OMN1S and the 990v3 throughout 2020 and 2021. From the very beginning, it was clear that Robinson didn’t want to put his brand’s name on a shoe just for the sake of it. He was keen to bring his own unique style to each silhouette and at the same time tell a story that would connect to his wider community of fans. For example, his 990v3 design was called ‘Outside Clothes’ as a reference to city-living in the 1990s when mothers would tell their children to be careful about wearing his outdoor clothes around the house.

The Inside Voices Pack

The Joe Freshgoods x New Balance 9060 would be the follow-up to this 2021 shoe, so it drew further on his childhood as a continuation of the same theme. He crafted two elegant colourways which were put together into a larger apparel collection entitled ‘Inside Voices’ – another nod to 90s mothers, this time referencing their tendency to tell kids to use their inside voices when in public rather than shouting out loud. Both editions incorporated the colour pink, which was already a signature Freshgoods tone as the designer had become fascinated by it during his youth after watching American rapper Cam’Ron donning pink clothes at fashion events and in music videos. This was particularly true of the first colourway to be announced, the ‘Penny Cookie Pink’, which was a graceful sneaker with a rosy pink tone across its mesh, laces and sidewall logos. Its overlays were a soft beige hue, while pale green highlights brought added contrast. Joe Freshgoods first revealed the ‘Inside Voices’ collection in January of 2022, showing two shoe boxes, but only one colourway. Those anticipating its May 2022 release would have to wait a few more months to see the second colourway, which was called ‘Baby Shower Blue’. On this one, pastel pink tones acted as a complement to the light aqua overlays and the pale tan mesh, creating a shoe that was just as elegant as its counterpart. Both were finished with Inside Voices text embroidered thickly across the heels just below the JFG branding, while a special quilted inner lining delivered extra softness and a luxurious feel around the foot.

The perfect precursor

Just one month before the launch of the 9060, it was announced that Joe Freshgoods had been appointed Creative Director of New Balance’s ‘Conversations Amongst Us’ campaign. With its initial releases set for April 2022 and also consisting of vintage New Balance models, the campaign was the perfect precursor to the 9060. It showed just how much faith the brand had in Freshgood’s creative abilities and brought attention to his other projects, which have only multiplied in the years since. When his 9060 designs came out in May, they were incredibly popular, generating tremendous hype and excitement for July’s general release.

A successful general release

As with many New Balance models, the 9060 launch colourway featured urban tones like grey and beige. Boosted by the success of the Joe Freshgoods collaboration and hailed by fashion magazines as the “sneaker of the summer”, it quickly became a popular choice amongst New Balance fans old and new, the former enjoying its throwback looks and its references to classic models like the 997 and the 991. Meanwhile, the brand’s more recent supporters were taken by its retrofuturist aesthetic and its performance-level comfort, which made it a great everyday sneaker. The younger, more fashion-conscious audience was also attracted later in the year when American music star and New Balance ambassador Jack Harlow appeared in an advertising campaign for the new 9060 ‘Truffle’ and ‘Ivory’ colourways.

Stunning collaborations

The New Balance 9060 was so captivating that it was soon chosen as a collaborative silhouette by other creative entities. 2022 saw the release of two stealthy designs with fashion label Mowalola and the refined ‘Age of Discovery’ colourway from Boston-based retailer Bodega, which was launched with the help of influential American rapper Aminé. Meanwhile, 2023 brought a memorable sneaker made with Los Angeles apparel brand Bricks & Wood, the ‘Missing Pieces Pack’ by James Whitner’s streetwear brand, The Whitaker Group, and the vibrant ‘Fire Sign’ and ‘Glow’ colourways by lifestyle retailer DTLR. The trend continued in 2024, when New Balance teamed up with Chinese designer Younker Hong and his streetwear retailer Randomevent to forge a classy black and gold sneaker, before returning to the partnership with DTLR, this time making a striking model that celebrated the colourful transformation of the spring. Later in the year, the brand went beyond the world of fashion, collaborating with American athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on the stylish 9060 ‘Linen Black Coffee’ ahead of her world-record-breaking, gold-medal-winning performance at the Paris Olympics. With so many high-level collaborations, the 9060 continued to grow in stature, and celebrities were seen wearing it in their day-to-day lives. Margot Robbie in particular was pictured twice in June 2024 sporting a neutral-toned colourway that drew the attention of magazines, thus demonstrating its high-fashion credentials and making it a must-have sneaker.

A powerful celebration of heritage

Despite being developed during a turbulent period in modern history, the New Balance 9060 has emerged as one of the most compelling lifestyle sneakers of the decade. Its celebration of the brand’s heritage gives it a classy Y2K aesthetic, while its comfort-giving features ensure that it has the versatility to be worn on a daily basis as well as special occasions. Through their clever, boundary-pushing reinterpretation of the 99X series, Lee and Wu poured their affection for classic New Balance running shoes into the design, before Joe Freshgoods brought his own flair for storytelling to the chunky silhouette. This dynamic combination gave the 9060 the best possible start, but it is the designers’ bold styling and attention to detail that has ensured its long-term success.