New Balance Wmns 574 'Grey Leopard'
Colorway: Grey/Black · Style code: WL574AY2 · Release date: January 2, 2023 · Price: $2482 · 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)
Animal print works on a 574 because of where the model puts its overlays. The toe cap, saddle and heel are separate pieces, so a leopard pattern can be dropped onto them and held inside hard seam lines rather than running loose across the whole shoe. This women's pair keeps the print greyscale, black rosettes on a grey ground, and leaves the body, the laces and the midsole plain so nothing competes with it.
New Balance released it on January 2, 2023 at $85, the same price the brand was charging for plain suede women's pairs at the time. Underneath is the standard build, including the heel unit the shoe has carried since day one: an EVA core boxed in by harder polyurethane, a compromise between the two midsole materials New Balance had to choose from when it was designed. Greyscale is what makes the print wearable. Leopard in its natural tan and brown pulls an outfit toward it, while black on grey behaves like a texture, closer to a tweed than to a statement.