BAPE and New Balance Have a 2002R Collaboration in the Works
The turn-of-the-century runner expands its already impressive collaborative roster.
BAPE has teamed with New Balance for the first time ever, creating new iterations of the popular 2002R. After a strong 2020 that saw clean in-line releases as well as collaborations with the likes of Salehe Bembury, INVINCIBLE x N.HOOLYWOOD, thisisneverthat and others, the turn-of-the-century runner’s collaboration with a brand the size of BAPE brings its rapidly increasing lifestyle stature into a whole new stratosphere.
Three teaser images of the BAPE x New Balance 2002R collaborations have been revealed. One displays a heel covered in BAPE’s signature 1st Camo plus a familiar shark tooth graphic. Another shows a toebox with grayscale BAPE camo plus a Sta logo. The third displays the aforementioned shark heel graphic’s reflective qualities and offers a look at the co-branded shoebox. Though the cryptic nature of these images makes it difficult to discern, it appears as if there’s two pairs — one with a grayscale color scheme, the other that uses a more bright assemblage.
At the time of writing, neither BAPE or New Balance has announced an official release date for their 2002R collaboration(s). However, interested parties can expect a drop sometime in April.
Looking for more NB news in the meantime? Check out the brand’s trail-ready Fresh Foam Hierro v6.
