New Balance 574 Rugged 'Workwear'
Colorway: Workwear/Black · Style code: ML574DHG · Release date: August 2, 2021 · Price: $429 · 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)
The name and the palette agree for once. Workwear is a khaki-brown, the tone of a canvas jacket rather than of a sports shoe, and putting it over black on a suede upper produces something that would sit comfortably next to a pair of boots. The dark base stops the brown looking washed out, and the two are far enough apart in value that the overlay pattern stays visible without needing a bright accent to outline it.
This is the Rugged build, which means a lugged rubber outsole underneath and the ENCAP heel carried over from the standard shoe, soft EVA inside a firmer polyurethane rim. New Balance released the pair on August 2, 2021 at $85. A utility palette on an outdoor-capable version of this model is one of the few places where the marketing and the history line up exactly: the shoe descends from a 500 series built for rough terrain, so a khaki and black pair with lugs underneath is closer to the original brief than most of what the line sells today.