Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance P550s Raffle Begins

I’ve never been much of a sneakerhead, but something struck a chord with me when I saw the first run of the Aimé Leon Dore x New Balance collab last season. Perhaps it was because Teddy Santis, the founder of ALD and future Creative Director of New Balance’s Made in USA line, took his inspiration from a shoe deep in the archives.

Instead of making some space-age Yeezy monstrosity, Santis revived a long-dormant basketball shoe from the New Balance archives. The low-top Basketball Oxfords are much the same this season as like the last, except this time they come in new colorways: so far a White and Green as well as a Navy and Red. These new iterations will drop on April 16th, but as with most desirable sneaker releases raffles have started to open. If this run goes anything like last year’s, not only will they sell out instantly, but they’ll also prove to be a good investment.

There is a sweet, dorky earnestness to these chunky shoes, and an understated retro styling that makes them work well, not only in a hypebeast’s closet, but also a denim head’s one as well. Act fast if you want in on these exclusive colorways, otherwise, you may be waiting on inevitable, less premium, general release versions.

Available for $130 at Aimé Leon Dore