New Balance Wmns 574 'Angora'
Colorway: Angora/Faded Mahogany · Style code: WL574BCV · Release date: 2018 · Price: $2632 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: New Balance Wmns 574 'Sea Salt Real Pink' (WL5742BA) · New Balance Wmns 574 'Pink Sugar' (WL5742BB) · New Balance Wmns 574 'Reflection Spring Sky' (WL5742BC) · New Balance Wmns 574 Rugged 'Angora Granite' (WL574AA2) · New Balance Wmns 574 'Bright Lavender' (WL574AG2)
Angora is New Balance's name for a warm, slightly greyed off-white, and it covers nearly all of this women's 574. The contrast comes from faded mahogany, a muted brick tone that lands on the sidewall N, the heel tab and the eyestay, enough to outline the shape without turning the shoe into a two-colour statement. Because the upper is textile rather than suede, the cream takes light flatly, which keeps the pairing quiet.
The stability piece under the heel is ENCAP, New Balance's answer to the trade-off between soft and firm foam: a soft EVA core is encapsulated inside a harder polyurethane rim, so the heel compresses without collapsing sideways. That setup has been on the shoe since the late 1980s, when the model was drawn as the value option inside a 500 series built for running away from pavement. This pair released in 2018 at $80, at the bottom of the 574 price range even then, which is a fair description of what the silhouette has always been within the brand: the accessible one.