New Balance Wmns 574 'Silver Birch'
Colorway: Silver Birch/White · Style code: WL574PC2 · Release date: May 17, 2021 · Price: $2432 · 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)
Two-tone in the narrowest sense. Silver birch is a light grey, and it runs across the breathable mesh body with suede overlays cut in the same shade at the toe, heel and saddle, so the shoe changes material without changing colour. The only breaks are white: a leather N on the saddle and a matching leather heel tab carrying standard branding. Underneath, a gum rubber outsole supplies the single warm element on an otherwise cool shoe.
New Balance released the pair on May 17, 2021 at $80. The midsole is ENCAP: the foam doing the cushioning sits inside a polyurethane rim that stops it spreading, which is the reason the 574 has always felt firmer at the back than at the front. This is the retro build in its plainest form, the same layout the model has used since it was assembled as the cheap option in a 500 series made for running off the road, and a tonal grey version makes the case for it better than a loud one would: with no colour blocking to follow, what holds the shoe together is how mesh, suede and leather sit next to one another.