New Balance 574 'State Fair - Grey'
Colorway: Grey · Style code: ML574SAA · Release date: 2018 · Price: $2452 · 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)
One colour, no accent. Grey runs the length of this 574, and with nothing to contrast against, the only variation available comes from the way different materials on the upper take the same dye, plus the shadows this model's many seams throw across it. That is a narrow set of tools, and the result is a shoe designed to be looked past rather than at, a position New Balance has always kept room for in its catalogue.
State Fair was the name the brand grouped this release under, and the pair sold in 2018 at $80, the lower of the two prices the model was being held at. Tonal grey is a position the 574 has occupied for decades, and it has a specific origin: the shoe was created as the budget option inside a 500 series built for running on rough ground, so it was never styled to draw attention in the first place. Grey is that intention expressed as a colour, and everything else here, from the wrapped toe to the raised heel, still comes from the original off-road brief.