New Balance 1906R 'Rain Cloud'
Colorway: Grey/Rain Cloud · Style code: M1906RJG · Release date: July 10, 2023 · Price: $2832 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: New Balance 1906A 'Sea Salt Astro Dust' (M1906AB) · New Balance 1906A 'Silver Gold Metallic' (M1906AD) · New Balance 1906A 'Black' (M1906AF) · New Balance 1906A 'Concrete Silver Metallic' (M1906AG) · New Balance 1906D 'Protection Pack - Castlerock' (M1906DA)
The number is the company's own. William J. Riley started the New Balance Arch Support Company in Boston in 1906, selling supports and shoe accessories rather than footwear; the story attached to the name involves him watching chickens in his yard and using their three-toed feet as a demonstration of balance. It was more than half a century before the business made a running shoe, when the 1960 Trackster arrived as the first offered in multiple widths.
The 1906R belongs to a much later era of the brand, the period after 2020 when New Balance began mining its own 2000s performance catalogue for lifestyle product, treating support hardware as styling rather than hiding it.
Everything visible on this shoe is functional in origin. The N on the side doubles as an N-Lock strap that pulls the midfoot down when the laces are tightened. A moulded TPU cage wraps the heel. ABZORB foam sits in the midsole above an N-ergy outsole with a Stability Web plate through the arch. Rain Cloud keeps it quiet: white mesh, pale grey synthetic leather over it. It released in July 2023 at $155.