New Balance 574 Legacy 'Black Angora'
Colorway: Black/Angora · Style code: U574LGRA · Release date: October 30, 2022 · Price: $107 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: 574 (U5747FE) · 574 (U5748DF) · 574 (U5748SB) · New Balance New Balance 57/40 'Lunar New Year - Black Poppy' (U5740CNB) · New Balance 57/40 'Lunar New Year - Eclipse' (U5740CNN)
Black and cream is a hard contrast handled softly here, because both tones arrive on suede. Angora, New Balance's warm off-white, fills the body and the midsole, while black takes the toe cap, the saddle, the eyestay and the heel, with the sidewall N in black on cream so it registers at a glance. The nap on both materials keeps the boundary between them from looking cut with a knife.
Legacy is the tier New Balance released this under, and it arrived at $100 on October 30, 2022, above what the brand charges for the standard version of the shoe. The core does not change: the heel still carries ENCAP, soft EVA held inside a firmer polyurethane rim, and the outline is the one Steven Smith reached by fitting a 576 upper onto a 577 sole. What a two-tone black and cream treatment adds is contrast in the right place. The 574 upper is a pattern of several separate overlay pieces, and picking them out in black against a pale ground makes that structure the design rather than hiding it.