By now, everyone knows what’s up with New Balance’s 550 - it’s the Boston brand’s answer to Nike’s Air Force 1, it’s the moodboarder’s shoe of choice, Jack Harlow’s favourite, Teddy Santis’ pet project - call it what you want but the 550 is here to stay, and any shoe worth its salt in today’s market can’t be considered “god tier” until it’s passed the Comme des Garçons collaboration test.
One of the strongest qualities of Rei Kawakubo’s brand is the many diffusion lines that each offer a different introspection into the mind of the aforementioned designer, and in keeping with the nature of New Balance’s 550, it’s only right that CDG Homme is the chosen moniker under which this potentially internet-breaking collab will operate.
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CDG Homme was first introduced in the late 70s and at the time, solely focused on producing dapper and relatively simple pieces for men that when compared to the likes of Homme Plus or CDG Play, were more refined and classical in design. The offshoot now works under the direction of Kawakubo alumni Junya Watanabe (the guy from the Kanye West song), who through a titular firm of his own, has more of a finger on the pulse approach to fashion, often drawing inspiration from only the best parts of the Comme des Garçons family.
CDG Homme’s upcoming 550 collab stays true to their ’less is more’ DNA with clean lines and tasteful branding, supposedly delivering black and white colourways to the basketball oxford, that aren’t too dissimilar to the recent mainline ‘Sea Salt’ releases from New Balance.
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Currently, no release date has been confirmed for the CDG Homme x New Balance 550, but with a full slate of Teddy Santis and Salehe Bembury driven projects on the horizon, it could well be winter-time before we see these release…
