New Balance is Out with New Versions of its Made in USA Sneakers

By Elizabeth Brotherton-Bunch
The latest New Balance 990 model. | Photo by New Balance

The company drops some new styles.

New Balance is out with new Made in America sneakers — and sneakerheads are taking notice.

Sneaker Bar Detroit reports that New Balance has released a Made in USA version of its iconic 990 model for August. It’s a retro version, “dressed in a mix of Black and Olive Green that’s constructed with a woven mesh upper paired with suede overlays.” The sneakers are priced at $210.

That’s not all, either. The folks at Kicks on Fire report that a new version of the popular 995 line also has been unveiled, this time in angora and mercury red and priced at $200, while Sneaker News reports that New Balance is also out with the 247, available “in luxe, sport, and retro-inspired rendition” and selling for just $79.99.

It’s exciting news for fans of the company’s Made in America offerings (which can be customized if you don’t like any of the options referenced above). And it’s exciting to see legitimate sneaker enthusiasts taking notice, too.

As we’ve previously noted on the blog, New Balance has maintained manufacturing operations in the United States for more than 75 years. It makes or assembles more than 4 million pairs of athletic shoes in the USA every year; when the domestic value of the shoe is at least 70 percent, it’s given a Made in the USA label.

Although New Balance’s Made in USA offerings are just a portion of the brand’s overall line of merchandise — it still imports a lot of stuff — we applaud the company for making a conscious decision to maintain operations in New England, employing hundreds of workers in the process. And it great to see that New Balance is clearly proud of its American-made merchandise, offering customers an array of fun and unique designs and giving the sneakers a real promotional push (quite unlike another company we recently wrote about).

We hope more shoe and apparel companies will follow New Balance’s lead. As designer Nanette Lepore — herself a huge supporter of American-made fashion — recently told the Hollywood Reporter: “If every big American brand produced just a few styles a month in the U.S., it would support our factories and enable them to continue our heritage of American craftsmanship.”

Check out the entire line of New Balance Made in USA sneakers.