New Balance 574 'Steel Camo'
Colorway: Steel/Toasted Coconut · Style code: ML574CMA · Release date: October 6, 2022 · Price: $2402 · 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)
Camouflage does something unusual to this shoe. The 574 is normally read through its panels, each piece a separate colour, and a printed camo runs straight over those divisions, so pattern and construction stop lining up. Steel, a cool mid grey, and toasted coconut, a warm pale brown, are the two tones in the print, which keeps it a long way from military green and closer to a workwear fabric.
The upper is textile, which is what makes the print possible: a pattern of this kind needs a flat woven surface to hold its edges, and suede would blur them. New Balance released the pair on October 6, 2022 at $80. Camo is a recurring idea on the model, and it suits the silhouette for the same reason earth tones do, because the shoe came out of off-road running and reads naturally as outdoor footwear. The proportions were drawn for uneven ground, and a pattern designed to disappear into terrain is a logical thing to wrap around them.