New Balance 574 'Tan Blue'
Colorway: Tan/Blue · Style code: ML574LC2 · Release date: July 4, 2021 · 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)
Tan and blue is a deliberately unbalanced pairing. The warm tone takes the larger area and the cool one sits underneath it, so the shoe leans beige while the blue supplies depth at the panels and the collar. The upper is synthetic rather than pigskin suede, which changes the finish more than the shape: synthetic nap holds a uniform colour across a whole panel, with none of the tonal drift real suede develops as it takes light from different angles.
New Balance put this out on July 4, 2021 at $85. It runs the model's standard heel, ENCAP, where a soft EVA core is enclosed in a harder polyurethane rim to stop the foam spreading sideways under load. That unit is what let the brand sell a cheaper shoe without giving up the thing the 500 series was known for, back when the 574 was first put together from an upper and a sole that already existed. A synthetic upper serves much the same purpose today, holding the price down while leaving the look intact.