Talking New Balance with Jaden Smith
This Christmas, I will be in Boston – the birthplace of New Balance.
To my disappointment, I've come to realise upon my routine pre-holiday Things to Do research that there's no zone outside of NB's headquarters (which will unfortunately be closed for Christmas) and stores (which I will be touring in hopes of happening on some rare finds), dedicated to the sneaker stalwart.
It's something I mention to New Balance collaborator Jaden Smith inside (what as far as I can tell is) a fitting room annexed to London Selfridges' VIP lounge.
I wonder out loud, “Why is there no New Balance museum?”
“Savage, we've got to create that!” says Smith, a Boston regular, in an extremely animated fashion, to his manager, David Savage. “We've got to talk to the team right now... we have to create the New Balance museum in Boston!”
Yes, he genuinely is this excited about the brand, still, after four years of collaborating with it via his very own company, MSFTSrep.
The 26-year-old says the New Balance team is “like family” to him.
He's just as excited about life in general. When I set foot into the shoe box space, he's standing on a chair, facing a mirror, taking pictures of himself on his touch-screen flip phone.
Without flinching, he acknowledges my reflection with an “Oh, hey bro!” After finishing in his own time, he bounces off the seat and embraces me by way of a hug complete with a big smile.
Now, more photos, but this time I'm in them. He tells me he enjoys the contrast between the pink of my jacket – which he recognises as a design by fellow New Balance collaborator, Joe Freshgoods: “I think he is the coolest person ever. He's the freakin' best” – and the blue of his pearl-adorned jacket and the red of his hat, both of which are from his own brand's spring/summer 2025 collection. His baggy double-layer jeans, kept up by a Yayoi Kusama x Louis Vuitton belt, are also MSFTSrep. Finishing touches include a Cartier ring he's repurposed as a hair tie and the New Balance shoes that have brought us here together today.
“This is the 0.01 silhouette that we came out with,” he says whilst stretching out his legs from the crouching position he's adopted to afford me a better look at one of two of the brand-new, available-in-Selfridges colourways, “sky above”.
“We wanted to make a [basketball] court shoe that can be worn every day and isn't too serious.”
The model, which debuted last year, is quieter than his previous silhouette, 2020's Vision Racer. “You couldn't really walk into a room without somebody noticing them. I like that these shoes blend in a little more.”
Having said that, the “sky above” iteration he's rocking is designed to add a slight “bright pop” to the wearer's outfit. As you'd imagine given their name, they're a stratosphere blue with “little white marks inspired by clouds”: “They use a special technique in the factory to get there.”
Its brother colourway is “earth below”, which is described by New Balance as an amalgamation of “creamy off-whites representing sandy beaches”.
They come together to form the “Up in the Clouds” pack which is compellingly anti-winter, a vibe verified by the vibrant floral packaging.
“We designed them in the spring and summer for whenever you want it to feel like spring and summer. They're for bringing the heat into a room.”
With this, the conversation returns to my pink Joe Freshgoods jacket. “It's like what you're doing today – you're bringing that spring energy with your outfit. When you entered the room I was like, 'Ah, there you are.'”
And now I must be leaving, extracting the spring energy out of the dim-lit space as I go.
But before I do...“Bro, visit MIT and Havard whilst you're in Boston.
“And give us like a year or so and we will have a museum or something else with New Balance up in the city.”
I nod, before telling him that an invitation to the launch is the sole compensation I call for.
(Like Smith, I too have my head in the clouds.)
The MSFTSrep x New Balance 0.01 is now available in Offspring in Selfridges, on the Offspring webstore and the New Balance webstore. RRP: £110.
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