Sneaker News Although sneaker collabs are happening on a weekly basis, the intangible magic behind these cooperative assignments still exists. That’s because the major footwear brands have taken extra measures to carefully select partners in an ever-growing rich pool of fashion, art, and sport, and one prevailing name to look out for in the coming years is Adsum, a Brooklyn-born menswear brand that continues to gain a following among sartorialists of the casual lifestyle variety.
Among their upcoming projects is a collaborative launch with New Balance lifestyle and the 990v3 silhouette. Catapulting off a friends-and-family version that was revealed back in May, the upcoming Adsum x New Balance 990v3 features a seldom seen white/off white midsole color-blocking, a potent slate blue suede upper that reflects the predominant color in their FW18 “Super Series”, a custom insole inspired by Adsum socks since the brand’s inception in 2015.
The Adsum x New Balance 990v3 will release exclusively at the Adsum SoHo pop-up shop on 171 Elizabeth St. beginning on September 4th. See below for a quick Q&A with brand founder Peter Macnee.
Adsum x New Balance 990 v3
Release Date: September 4th-10th, 2018
$190
Adsum Soho pop-up 171 Elizabeth St.
Sneaker News: Can you tell us a bit about Adsum’s history?
Pete Macnee: We started Adsum in 2015 when I was coming off a stint working with Mark McNairy, who was the creative director at Woolrich at the time. I was working on graphic designs and helping with domestic production but had an urge to try my own thing. I realized I was interested in making outerwear – which is tough! So long story short, we started with one of the hardest things to do.
We make technical outerwear and casual menswear with a focus on our relationship with the Northeastern US. We’ve moved from outerwear to other categories including casual clothing, tees, hats, etc.
SN: How did the partnership with New Balance begin, and why the 990v3?
PM: We’ve styled our lookbooks and shoots with New Balance sneakers from the beginning. We find New Balance shares a lot of the same brand DNA because we’re both from the Northeast. As time and luck would have it, we ended up meeting some of the NB UK team through an introduction from the US office. Our customer loves New Balance and it felt like there was interest in Adsum on a personal level from some of the guys at New Balance.
I think the 990V3 is a quintessential running shoe. The V4 is a great shoe, but the silhouette of the V3 is timeless like a bunch of our favorite NB styles. Honestly, we’re lucky to be able to do a NB1 made in the US collaboration. The Adsum x New Balance shoes are made along with all the other NB1 shoes in the Lawrence, MA factory. I was very impressed to see that NB has kept a factory in the states and can turn around all styles from the NB1 program.
SN: Can you explain the color palette behind the 990v3 design?
PM: Building off our first NB1, which was in a grey colorway, we took the same white/off white sole and flipped it with a slate upper color way. Slate is one of the prominent colors in the FW18 collection. We could have done a shoe that would have stood out more however, we wanted to make something that would be wearable and timeless.
SN: A lot of the footwear featured in Adsum lookbooks and social media are retro runners. Any reason why the brand is drawn to that style?
PM: A shoe can be the thread that ties things together nicely in a look and since being casual is an important part for the brand, it reflects the looks we put together. I’ve preferred wearing running shoes, tennis shoes and skate shoes growing up. I didn’t wear basketball shoes that much and I never had Jordans. There are a couple things that make running shoes a top choice when styling. They break well on pants and we like how running shoes look with shorts.
Above: Adsum x New Balance 990v3 friends and family edition (will not release)
Above: Adsum x New Balance 990v3 friends and family edition (will not release)
