Junya Watanabe is joining forces once more with New Balance for a twist on a classic sneaker.
Partnered through his eYe imprint, the Comme des Garçons designer and the Boston-based athletic brand are set to release a black and white take on New Balance’s signature BB480. The eYe Junya Watanabe x New Balance BB480 drops on March 19 in Japan at select stockists as well as at select Comme des Garçons stores with an asking price of around $220 (24,000 JPY). Ssense, though, appears to already have select sizes of the shoe available now for $190 at Ssense.com for American fans.
Tackling the retro silhouette from the 1980s, the two brands offer up a dual-tone design complete with smooth leather uppers and mixed paneling. The signature N logo gets a black coating as does the perforated toe box while the heel counter, tongue and sides remain a smooth white finish. Set atop a white midsole with a contrasting black outsole, the final touches of the new sneaker come in the form of both labels’ recognizable branding across the tongue, heel counter and insole.
The eYe Junya Watanabe x New Balance BB480 pic.twitter.com/GhKJ5pAq6g
— Boreas (@lucripeta) March 18, 2021
New Balance
eYe
COMME des GARÇONS JUNYA WATANABE MAN
BB480
シャレてますね
白黒最近とても好きなので好みです
お値段が洒落っ気一切無しですがね💰 pic.twitter.com/Cg5gNry2Bu— ksk (@ksk_hmd) March 18, 2021
The BB480 is the second collaboration as of late between New Balance and Watanabe. In September 2020, the two entities came together to reimagine three sneaker silhouettes with a streamlined all-black theme: the 379 sneakers, the Pro Court Cup design and the beloved 574 pair.
