Auralee x New Balance 550 "Ecru"

Colorway: Ecru/Pistachio · Style code: BB550AR · Release date: July 16, 2021 · Lowest resale ask: $739 · Availability: Available now

More colorways & related: Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance 550 "Red Navy" · Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance 550 "Brown" · New Balance 550 "Granite" · New Balance 550 "Burgundy" · New Balance NB Numeric 600 x Atlantic Drift — Black with Team Teal · New Balance Made in USA 992 — Black Turtledove NB Navy · New Balance Kawhi V — Oxford Blue · New Balance Kawhi V — Slate Grey · New Balance Made in UK Allerdale Tweed Luxe Leather — Raven · New Balance Made in UK 991V1 Tweed Luxe Leather — Raven · New Balance SuperComp Jump — Hot Spot with Satsuma Orange · New Balance 1890 — Mulled Wine

All New Balance 550 release dates & colorways

About the Auralee x New Balance 550 "Ecru"

The 550 started life in 1989 as the P550 Oxford, a low-top basketball shoe designed by Steven Smith. It did not work commercially. New Balance was understood as a running company, the shoe offered nothing the market wanted, and it disappeared after limited distribution in Asia and the UK.

It stayed disappeared for three decades. When Aime Leon Dore's Teddy Santis came across an image of the model and pushed for a reissue, New Balance had so little of it left in-house that the recreation was worked up from used pairs and archive sketches. That 2020 collaboration was the 550's first return since 1989, and it went well enough that the shoe became a general release and one of the brand's central lifestyle models.

AURALEE's version, from the summer after, is the quiet reading of it. The upper is leather in a soft off-white, with the New Balance wordmark on the heel tab left in black as the only real contrast. The nylon tongue is swapped for leather and stripped of its woven tag, the two sockliners carry different branding, and the midsole is finished in a pre-aged tone rather than bright white.

Written with AI from brand specs; facts checked against our catalog data on Sep 18, 2026.