What’s the most you’ve ever paid for a new sneaker release? New Balance and Loro Piana are trying to give some sneakerheads a new answer to that question with their upcoming collaboration. Next month, the two brands are collaborating on a unique New Balance 990v6 that’ll be retailing for a jaw-dropping $1,500.
First, for the uninitiated: Loro Piana is an Italian luxury fashion brand specializing in ultra-premium takes on classic wardrobe staples. Textiles are the name of their game, with their wools, cashmeres, and merinos coming from meticulously sourced mills across the globe. If you’re wearing a piece made by the brand you can rest assured knowing that you’re wearing the best of the best–theoretically, at least (more on that later). Their price tags reflect that. The brand’s sweaters run around $9,000 and you’ll have to shell out roughly a down payment on a car to get even the most affordable of their pieces. They’ve been around for quite a while but really elevated in the public consciousness thanks to Succession, with all of the Roy siblings regularly donning their wares (a great point of reference for just how rich you usually have to be if you’re consistently decked out in Loro Piana).
They share that attention to detail with production, sourcing, and textile selection with New Balance, who’ve long been crafting Dad Shoes with high-quality materials from suede uppers to well-composed soles prioritizing orthopedic support. Were Loro Piana to ever collaborate with an American sneaker brand, New Balance is absolutely the one that makes the most sense.
The fruit of that collaboration is the aforementioned 990v6, New Balance’s latest take on their tried-and-true 990 model. The colorway itself is very much in line with NB’s current design ethos, mixing evergreen neutrals (gray and beige tones in this case) with a pop of color, this time a deep red that adorns the logo, tongue, and sole of the shoe. The Loro Piana touch comes in the brand’s signature Pecora Nera wool in the shoe’s upper construction. They’re the exclusive buyer of the textile, which comes from dark merino sheep raised in New Zealand. Extremely soft to the touch but deceptively durable, the wool is also incorporated into the sock liner of the shoe for a luxe and comfortable feel on foot (presumably–most of us here at GQ can’t claim to have worn many shoes with Pecora Nera wool in the sole).
With elevated materials comes an elevated price tag of $1,500. If you’re raising an eyebrow over that, just remember that the Dior Air Jordan 1 retailed for $2,000 and sold out instantaneously. Gucci’s logo’d-out takes on the Adidas Gazelle regularly fly off the shelves at $850 a pop. Don’t get me wrong: it’s inherently ridiculous to pay that much money for a pair of sneakers. It’s just far from an unprecedented price tag—and there’s a proven track record for luxury collaborations on mainstream sneaker brands selling well.
Sometimes a ridiculous price tag is all it takes to make a sneaker fly off the shelves. Owning a pair is a flex in and of itself. Throw in a brand name associated with one of the most popular shows of the last decade and you’ve got a collaboration that, for better or worse, is going to make headlines.
