 | |
| Type | Sneakers |
|---|---|
| Inventor | New Balance |
| Inception | 1989 |
| Manufacturer | New Balance |
| Available | Yes |
New Balance 550 is a basketball shoe produced by New Balance.
| | |
| Type | Sneakers |
|---|---|
| Inventor | New Balance |
| Inception | 1989 |
| Manufacturer | New Balance |
| Available | Yes |
New Balance 550 is a basketball shoe produced by New Balance.
The shoes were designed by Steven Smith and created as a low top version of the company's New Balance Pride 650. The shoe was originally known as the New Balance P550 Oxford and was primarily a budget shoe. It sold for $45 when it was first released in 1989. [1] The shoe was designed to improve on the New Balance 480 . Smooth leather was used for the upper, and perforated profile panels and lightweight mesh for the base to make it more breathable, a major complaint with the 480. The heel had a molded structure to improve stability and lockdown, and the sole used an updated traction pattern and layout to provide better responsiveness. [2] The shoe also featured a very thick sole with EVA foam. [3]
The shoe was brought back in 2020 when Aimé Leon Dore decided to collaborate with the company. The shoe was not successful when it first launched decades ago and was so obscure for the company itself that it had to buy used pairs and find old sketches to recreate the release as close to the original. [4] The release proved to be so successful that it led to the shoe becoming a general release for the company. [5]
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but over time, shoes also became fashion items. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots, which are required footwear at industrial worksites.
Converse is an American lifestyle brand that markets, distributes, and licenses footwear, apparel, and accessories. Founded by Marquis Mills Converse in 1908 as the Converse Rubber Shoe Company in Malden, Massachusetts, it has been acquired by several companies before becoming a subsidiary of Nike, Inc. in 2003.
Sneakers (US) or trainers (UK), also known by a wide variety of other names, are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise but which are also widely used for everyday casual wear.
Football boots, called cleats or soccer shoes in North American English, are a type of shoe worn when playing association football (soccer). Those designed for grass pitches have studs on the outsole to aid grip. From simple and humble beginnings football boots have come a long way and today find themselves subject to much research, development, sponsorship and marketing at the heart of a multi-national global industry. Modern "boots" are no longer truly boots in that they do not cover the ankle - like most other types of athletic footwear, their basic design and appearance has converged with that of sneakers since the 1960s.
Nike Air Max is a line of shoes produced by Nike, Inc., with the first model released in 1987. Air Max shoes are identified by their midsoles incorporating flexible urethane pouches filled with pressurized gas, visible from the exterior of the shoe and intended to provide cushioning to the underfoot. Air Max was conceptualized by Tinker Hatfield, who initially worked for Nike designing stores.
New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company.
PF Flyers is an American brand of lifestyle shoes owned by Kassia Designs, LLC. Founded in 1937 by B.F. Goodrich, it is one of the original American sneaker brands.
LA Gear is an American shoe company based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983, it is currently part of Frasers Group brands.
Racing flats, or simply flats, are lightweight athletic shoes designed for "long distance" track and field, cross country, and most often, road races. They differ from normal training shoes mainly by the lack of a substantial heel to toe drop.
Adidas Samba is an athletic shoe manufactured by German multinational Adidas. It was designed by Adidas Founder Adolf Dassler in 1949. It is the second-highest selling Adidas design with over 35 million pairs sold worldwide, behind the Stan Smith model. It has been produced in a variety of color schemes.
Sneaker collecting is the acquisition and trading of sneakers as a hobby. It is often manifested by the use and collection of shoes made for particular sports, particularly basketball and skateboarding. A person involved in sneaker collecting is sometimes called a sneakerhead.
Nike, Inc. is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, United States. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of US$46 billion in its fiscal year 2022.
Ronnie Fieg is an American footwear and clothing designer, entrepreneur and the owner-operator of American retail fashion establishment and brand Kith.
Nike Dunk is a line of shoes released by Nike in 1985. Originally released as a basketball shoe, the popularity of the shoe among the skating community also led to the creation of a variant used for skateboarding. The shoe is offered in low-, mid- and high-top styles.
Adidas Yeezy was a fashion collaboration between American rapper, designer, and entrepreneur Kanye West's Yeezy and German sportswear company Adidas. It offered sneakers in limited edition colorways, as well as shirts, jackets, track pants, socks, slides, lingerie and slippers. The first shoe model was released in February 2015. In 2020 Forbes described Yeezy's rise as "one of the great retail stories of the century". Yeezy influenced and inspired a multitude of other fashion brands. Outside of the former Adidas collaboration, Yeezy is the name of Kanye's company Yeezy LLC and is not connected to Adidas.
Aimé Leon Dore is a fashion and lifestyle brand founded in March 2014 by Teddy Santis. Based in Queens, New York, the brand's flagship store is located on Mulberry Street in Nolita, Manhattan.
Kith is an American fashion and lifestyle brand established in New York City in 2011 by Ronnie Fieg.
Adidas NMD is a line of running shoes released by Adidas in 2015. The shoes are best known for utilizing the company's Boost technology in the soles.
New Balance 2002 is a running shoe produced by New Balance.
New Balance 480 is a basketball shoe produced by New Balance. It is the first basketball shoe created by the company and comes in a high top and low top model.
| Subsidiaries |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brands | |||||
| Sneakers | |||||
| People | |||||
