New Balance 80's Inspired Limited Edition Idea

After conducting research into the up and coming 80's sneaker trend, I have created a moodboard of inspiring images, and then created examples of what the New Balance 80's Edition could look like.

80's Inspirational Moodboard

New Balance Limited Edition Suggestion

Retro Is 'In' With a Passion, For Better or for Worse!

As flagged up by our Tier Two male consumer, ‘Retro is in with a passion, and the 1980’s and 1990’s are back.’ (Associated Content 2011: Online). Spring/Summer 2011 is seeing a return to the 80’s and 90’s retro trend for sneakers, and from bloggers images it is clear that the bolder the better. Hightops have been predicted to be hot this season, with Jimmy Choo and Christian Louboutin reintroducing this style on their Spring/Summer Fashion Week catwalks, and with the likes of Agyness Dean and Rihanna already endorsing thse. 

Natalie Hartley, senior editor at InStyle says that ‘with so much street style influences around, high tops give a nod to that [nineties grunge era] without feeling too try hard.’ (Telegraph.co.uk 2011: Online) Shoeblogger’s ‘Shorty Loves Shoes’ predicts that ‘sneakers in Spring are celebrating colourful funky 80’s and 90’s fashion- for better or for worse.’ (Shoeblogger 2011: Online)

‘Tier Two’ consumers are also beginning to recognize this as an appealing trend; ‘I get my inspiration from films. I have recently seen ‘The Firm’ which is set in the eighties. It reminded me how cool the chunky eighties look is.’ (Si Mason, Focus Group participant: 2011) This initial awareness of the trend marks the beginning of the ‘Trickle Down Theory’ from the ‘Tier One’ early adopter to the ‘Tier Two’ high street shopper.

When talking to Si our Opinion Former and his flat mates about their purchasing decisions, 19 year old Tobias came up with a very interesting answer. Tobias is our BIG Adidas fan. He said that he did not read magazines and did not feel that TV adverts made him go and buy something, although he would remember a cool advert for years.

Tobias said Adidas have started to focus more on their Trimm Trab style, and he currently loves the 80's chunky, colourful trainer vibe. Below are images of Adidas' Trimm Trabs, the soles are thicker, the colours more old school than fluroescent and have a definite nostalgia of when we were young.

"I love them because they are retro without being predictably retro. They are old but not old enough that everyone is wearing them as 'retro' is in. I don't like to be the same as everyone else with my shoes, I like to stand out. I get bored of things when everyone starts to get them, and I think that 80's retro is something that could really hit off."

WGSN reports that 1990’s sportswear inspired labeling is a key aspect of this trend. This involves block fonts, capitalized typography and ‘go faster’ stripes. (Farrar, C and Rutherford, K. in WGSN 2011: Online). 

For high impact designs a monotone colour palette is required, which can be seen in Adidas’ recent 2011 eighties inspired trainer. (Nike Tick 2011: Online) 

Researched by Caroline

New Balance 80's Retro: Nowhere to be seen in the UK!

NEW DISCOVERY: THE US HAVE LAUNCHED RETRO NEW BALANCE HI TOPS. NOWHERE TO BE SEEN IN THE UK MARKET.

This range shows how the brand is making it quite clear that it wants to embrace both genders and every athlete.New Balance launched the retro the BB790 high-top silhouette in 2009, which was worn by the likes of James Worthy. It released in four colorways, each which have a predominantly white base, with accenting colors that match New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and what appears to be either the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Haws team colours. How this has not already been translated into the UK market, I do not know!

Below is an image of an actual retro 80's New Balance trainer which is also very cool in terms of design, colour and softer texture.

Out of Your Box! Sneaker Box's Musical Trainer

'Sneaker Box, Out of Your Sneaker Box' claims that this 80's inspired trainer can actually play songs off of CD' that can be inserted into the soles! I have no idea how this works, but these could not get any more 80's if they tried!!

80's Retro Sneakers

After discovering that 80's retro was a trend in our Opinion Former's house, I thought it was appropriate to find images of some 80's sneakers, to see if any of these elements could be incorporated into a new New Balance shoe.

The pastel colours are very summery and 80's however this makes the shoe very feminine.

This is much more manly while the colours still have a dulled 80's retro vibe. The chunkiness is different to New Balance's current small and sleek Hi Tops, so could make an interesting range.

The Firm: Film

When talking to Si's flat mates about what makes them make purchasing decisions, 19 year old Tobi came up with a very interesting answer. Tobias is our BIG Adidas fan. He said that he did not read magazines and did not feel that TV adverts made him go and buy something, although he would remember a cool advert for years.


Tobias said that for trend information, he gets his inspiration from films. He has recently seen Warner Brother's "The Firm" set in the 1980's. He said that from this, he has noticed that Adidas has started to focus more on their Trimm Trab style, and he currently loves the 80's chunky, colourful trainer vibe. Below are images of Adidas' Trimm Trabs, the soles are thicker, the colours more old school than fluroescent and have a definite nostalgia of when we were young.

"I love them because they are retro without being predictably retro.  They are old but not old enough that everyone is wearing them as 'retro' is in. I don't like to be the same as everyone else with my shoes, I like to stand out. I get bored of things when everyone starts to get them, and I think that 80's retro is something that could really hit off."