WTAPS Officially Reveals Its Upcoming New Balance 990v2 Collaboration

If there’s one thing to note about the New Balance lifestyle category this year, it’s that they certainly not taking its foot off of the gas when it comes to collaborative dealings. Following up on partnerships with the likes of Casablanca and Joe Freshgoods, the footwear imprint has now unveiled its second chapter with WTAPS that entails a tonal New Balance 990v2 with matching apparel items.

Building off of the two parties’ 992 project from 2020, WTAPS and New Balance wanted to fuse both of their DNA palettes for this new makeup. “We know that WTAPS, like us, has something to do with the color gray, so the combination of NB x WTAPS and the 990 franchise model makes perfect sense”, said Joe Grondin — who works on New Balance‘s collaborations arm — about the kicks. And this design language is visible throughout the sneakers as the both the uppers — which are blended up with a mesh and suede materials — and the midsoles are treated with grey exteriors. Other elements to call out include the darker shaded tongues that are graced with white branding as well as the “WTAPS” hit which is stationed on the heels.

Dropping alongside the sneakers are four apparel products including a grey hoodie and short sleeve tee and a navy crewneck and long sleeve tee. Each are decorated with co-branded hits at the collar bones while the tees feature a “USA” spell out across the chest.

The New Balance 990v2 and the apparel will both release on August 27 exclusively through New Balance Japan and select Japanese retailers. The shoes will cost ¥42,900 (approx. $391 USD) while the apparel will range from ¥14,300 to ¥28,600 (approx. $130 to $260 USD).

Looking out for more sneaker-related news? The New Balance 991 was recently unveiled with a clean blue and grey color scheme.