New Balance 574 Rugged 'Black Green'
Colorway: Black/Green · Style code: ML574DVB · Release date: September 29, 2022 · Price: $207 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: New Balance 574 'Pennant Pack' (ML574) · New Balance 574 'Incense' (ML574AA2) · New Balance 574 'Natural Indigo Maple' (ML574AB2) · New Balance 574 'Rain Cloud Maple' (ML574AC2) · Alpha Industries x New Balance 574 'Sedona Seige Grey' (ML574AI2)
Green on black is the most obvious outdoor palette there is, and on the Rugged build it does more than reference one. The green sits on the suede overlays, dark enough that in low light it reads as another shade of black, separating only when it catches direct light. Underneath the upper is a lugged rubber outsole, the feature that distinguishes this version from the standard shoe and the reason the whole thing looks heavier than it actually is.
New Balance released the pair on September 29, 2022 at $90. The heel keeps ENCAP, a soft EVA core inside a firmer polyurethane rim, which on a shoe with lugs makes more sense than it does on the flat version, since that unit exists to steady a heel on ground that shifts. The 574 has spent most of its life being sold as a casual sneaker, so the Rugged releases work as a periodic reminder of what it was assembled for, back when it was the cheap way into New Balance's off-road 500 series.