Andrew Rizzo Every time you think the New Balance 1906 series has reached its max, another new version joins the fray. Hot off the heels of the New Balance 1906L, a controversial loafer-sneaker hybrid, we’re now hit with a first look at another fresh style dubbed the New Balance 1906M. If you’re a member of the United States armed services, you might recognize the tooling on display.
New Balance hasn’t publicly previewed the new 1906 variant yet, but we can confidently deduce that the “M” stands for military. In 2018, New Balance inked a $17.3 million dollar contract with the US Department of Defense, making the Boston brand the country’s one and only supplier of military-grade athletic footwear. At the heart of the deal was the New Balance 950v2, a sneaker developed specifically for the armed forces comprised entirely out of US-sourced materials. The key feature of that shoe, and the New Balance 1906M by extension, is a Fantom Fit upper. The shoe features a skeletally engineered, no-sew overlay meant to provide ultra-light support without sacrificing ergonomics. Naturally, that means the New Balance 1906M looks drastically different than the standard 1906R. Aside from the toe cap and eyelet panel, all the overlays are stripped to make room for the Fantom Fit structure.
Release information is scant at this early stage, but it’s likely the New Balance 1906M will debut sometime in 2025. In any case, know that this page as well as our Sneaker Release Dates hub will display all real-time updates as they come in.
Images via @dane3fune.
