New Balance 574 Rugged 'Rain Cloud'
Colorway: Rain Cloud/White · Style code: ML574DGG · Release date: February 8, 2022 · Price: $217 · 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)
Neutral above, aggressive below. The upper is light grey open-cell mesh with suede overlays cut in the same tone, marked only by a white leather N, the brand name set along the outer forefoot and a stitched N on the tongue. Then the outsole arrives in black with oversized lugs, hardware that belongs on a hiking shoe and sits deliberately at odds with the soft grey above it.
That contradiction is the Rugged line in one shoe. New Balance put this pair out on February 8, 2022 at $90, with the ENCAP midsole intact between the two halves. The lugs are not purely decorative, since the 574 descends from a 500 series built for running away from the road, but almost nobody buys the shoe for that now, and the pattern mainly serves to give a familiar silhouette a different stance. Grey is the safest colour the brand sells, which is precisely why it was chosen here: it lets the sole do all of the talking.