Joe Freshgoods, Chicago’s own Joseph Robinson if you check his passport, like a shoe that tells a story.
“Stories first,” he said in a recent interview with Complex. “Then y’all can get the product.”
Joe’s latest collaboration with New Balance, a 990v3 called “Outside Clothes”, tells a few stories. First, it’s his sophomore album, in his own words, taking on the pressure of following the massively popular and nearly impossible to get “No Emotions Are Emotions” 992, which only released with around 800 pairs worldwide, with something equally different and eye-catching.
“Outside Clothes” is also the story of something he connects with personally, nature, a shoe leathers and suedes in tans and browns to represent the earth, with a mesh upper adorned in light blue to represent the sky, and accents of green to highlight the sky. The sole, too, weave together these three colours. The inspiration of the outdoors is even more clear on the insole, with JFG for NB Outside Clothes written on a blue sky with clouds and a butterfly soaring through the words.
Joe’s the second major designer to take inspiration from the outdoors this year, with Salehe Bembury, who personally found himself after years trudging at Yeezy by hiking in New Balances through the American southwest, and the connection is not a coincidence. For many, Yeezys and Jordans may be the street shoe, but New Balance is the shoe they take with them on a long hike or a faraway journey, the shoe they wear through the sand and the grass, the shoe that’s with them on a physical and spiritual journey under the sun and the stars.
Even if that’s not where you’re wearing it, the 990v3, from a technical standpoint as well as an aesthetic one, is still perhaps the best New Balance ever made, an all-day shoe that looks good and holds up even years after you’ve worn it through rough conditions. Made in the US, it’s as well built as modern shoes get, especially ones with collabs from the best designers working today.
The design that Joe has brought to the 990v3 is truly unlike any other, meeting comfortably in the middle of the 990v3 from Bodega earlier this year, with darker shades of brown such as ‘kangaroo’, and the bright and furry Water Be the Guide 2002r from Bembury. It’s subtle enough to pop at any time of day with any outfit, loud and quiet, with an exception build and material quality you can feel at every corner.
There’s other stories to find too, stories you can find in the details. Where, on the heel tab, it normally says “Made in the US”, Freshgoods’ 990v3 says ‘Made for us”, a signal that this shoe, like much of his work in fashion, is proudly made first and foremost with the Black community in mind. In his recent complex interview, he says he’s gotten more comfortable communicating that to New Balance, and as they have put more trust in him, he has put it in them.
This shoe is firmly his own identity and the identity of his heritage, made with the quality standards of one of the best sneaker brands in the world.
Simply put, the JFG Outside Clothes 990v3 is one of the best shoes of the year, and a must have for 990v3 enthusiasts, an elite group in the sneakerhead community, if I do say so myself.
The the sneaker will drop exclusively at thegoodlife space on September 10, and if you want to get your hands on it for retail, there’s a raffle going on now.
Click here to find the raffle. Click on the New Balance x Joe Freshgoods “Outside Clothes” 990v3, and scroll down to register for the raffle, following all instructions. The raffle closes today at 6:00 pm.
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