Boston-based New Balance and San Clemente, Calif.-based sock brand, Stance, team up for two collections titled ‘First of All,’ the first in a series of collaborations in 2017. The collaboration pays tribute to the origins of both companies.
The Boston line offers the New Balance 997 in copper rose and tan colorways, in homage to Boston’s brownstone architecture, while a teal reflective underlay is meant to represent patina copper often found on the buildings. A cobblestone patterned deboss can be seen on the leather accents.
The shoe is paired with the Stance 144 Needle crew style in a demure design. Even the marketing for the kit was produced by a Boston-based artist, Matthew Zaremba.
The new New Balance 1978 silhouette in slate blue and tan pig suede is paired with a Stance 144 Needle crew sock, offering athletic stripes in an effort to show San Clemente’s beaches and surf breaks. Orange County-based artist Mark Oblow depicts San Clemente in the kit’s marketing.
The sole of the 997 features an East Coast map, while the 1978 offers a West Coast graphic, showing each brand’s headquarters’ coordinates, which can also be found on the welt cuff of the socks.
“We wanted to collaborate with an innovative brand that has brought fresh perspective and quality design to the market, to demonstrate how the sock and shoe can truly work together,” said Chris Davis, New Balance VP of global marketing. “It has been exciting to unite our two worlds in a way that highlights our shared values and brings authentic, premium products to our consumers.”
“This is our first major collaboration with a footwear brand and it’s been an honor for us to work with a company that we have such deep respect for,” said John Wilson, Stance president. “To see our culture captured like this with a heritage American brand is a proud moment for Stance.”
The shoes and socks are sold together with the socks housed in a special compartment inside the shoe box kit. The first round of kits are set to hit both online stores and select retailers June 10. The 997 and Stance sock kit retails for $240, while the 1978 Stance sock kit sells for $180.