The days when performance and heritage ran on purely parallel tracks, never to meet, are long gone. In fact, designing for a field that demands innovation functions a lot like any other compulsion with a law of diminishing returns. The longer you do it, the more you have to push the envelope to achieve the same thrills as before. A new project from New Balance, the Tokyo Design Studio, follows this line of thinking all the way to the ultimate fusion of performance and style.

As a longtime hotbed of New Balance fandom, the working relationship between New Balance and Japan is a well-established one. The Tokyo Design Studio takes this mutual admiration to a new level. Developed and designed in Japan, technological innovation and a progressive design sensibility are interpreted through the distinctly Japanese lenses of authentic history, painstaking craftsmanship and exacting quality.

With 2020 marking the 35th anniversary of the top of the line, 1300 running shoe, of "mortgage the house" advertisement fame, the Tokyo Design Studio has put their own stamp on this New Balance icon. The classic, 1980s mesh and suede upper features a marbleized suede treatment, for a sophisticated, vintage effect, while the ENCAP Reveal sole unit and a Vibram rubber outsole offer a contemporary tech equipped update of the original shoe. 

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