New Balance Launches 574 Customization Site

by Ben Osborne / @bosborne17

Last week I—a huge fan of New Balance in general and the iconic 574 in particular—had the good fortune to be invited to a launch event for the brand’s new custom shoe, the US574. The event was held at a dope space on Manhattan’s West Side and featured good drink, food and MacBooks cued up for guests to design their own kicks. Mine should come next week!

Interested in making your own pair? Read the press release from NB below and then go to the site, which just launched today…

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New Balance announces the launch of the US574, the brand’s first custom athletic shoe, which will be made at the company’s Norridgewock, Maine manufacturing facility. The US574 is a classic running silhouette and is available exclusively through www.shopnewbalance.com.

“The New Balance Custom US574 enables you to be the designer and choose from premium material and color options to personalize your own iconic New Balance 574 silhouette, a legendary shoe from the New Balance Classic collection,” says Steve Gardner, Strategic Business Unit Manager for New Balance Lifestyle.

The leather of the US574 upper is offered in eight colors and is individually cut by New Balance associates with an option of a leather back tab.  The shoe’s woven label is also available in eight colors.  The US574 can be personalized with up to eight characters per shoe stitched on the foxing on the shoe’s back tab and there are nine color choices of embroidery thread.  The base “N” is available in white, navy, or black while the top “N” and the shoe’s laces are available in nine colors.  The US574 is shipped out within 4-8 business days of ordering.

New Balance’s Norridgewock, Maine, manufacturing facility was established in 1982 and today employs more than 350 associates.  As the only athletic shoe company that currently manufactures footwear in the U.S., New Balance employs 1,200 associates across five New England facilities to produce a quarter of the brand’s North American footwear shipments each year or approximately 7 million pairs of shoes.  These New Balance shoes are produced by the brand’s U.S. workforce using U.S. and imported materials.