Why is everyone buying New Balance sneakers? The ‘dad shoe’ is right on trend, has had high-profile collaborations and was worn at the Fifa World Cup

Once you would not be caught dead in them. Now New Balance ranks as one of the fastest-growing sneaker brands on resale platform StockX

The ‘dad shoe’ can thank a current trend for chunky, basketball-inspired sneakers, several high-profile collaborations and emerging fashion subcultures for that

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Published: 7:15am, 16 Jan 2023Updated: 8:07am, 16 Jan 2023

New Balance sneakers might be known as the ultimate in “dad shoes”, but the brand is proving it can get down with the kids too.

“We’re attracting a younger consumer,” Joe Preston, the chief executive of New Balance, said last year. “[They] are coming into our brand, and they’re really coming across our categories.”

Sales figures on popular sneaker resale site StockX back this up.

The site reported that New Balance was among the top five bestselling brands on Black Friday – the Friday after Thanksgiving in November in the United States, when sites and stores typically offer large discounts to customers. The previous month saw more than 100,000 web searches for the in-demand New Balance 550.

A New Balance 550 shoe. Sneaker resale site StockX reported that New Balance was among the top five bestselling brands on Black Friday last year.

“One trend that has really picked up [in 2022] is a preference for chunky, basketball-inspired sneakers,” says Drew Haines, merchandising director of sneakers and collectibles at StockX.

“The 550 was created for basketball players, but New Balance [have] reintroduced the silhouette with new features that made it more of a lifestyle sneaker, and sales boomed.