Photography By Angel Gonzalez/Vagrant Sneaker ©2013
One of my favorite collaborations out there is the ongoing one between New Balance and JCrew. They started out with the NB1400 silhouette and that lead to other models, including the “Made In USA 998″. They introduced it with 2 color-ways in the form of the Dark Military and New Navy. Last week, they added the beautiful Pebble Blue c/w you see above. As a consumer, I always second guess the images JCrew releases for them (they are your ordinary and bad generic photos). Even with that thought, I knew this was going to look great in person because I have two customs with similar colors. It also reminded me of another collab from 2012 by NB x Nonnantive dubbed Dune….
Fresh Out The Box, the shoe comes in an eye pleasing make-up with some tonal browns and blues. There’s even a slight hint of the dark military hue on the plastic heel cap. You wouldn’t really notice it, but if you look closely you’ll be able to tell. That adds a really nice contrast detail and something I would expect from the designers of a mayor apparel chain. The rest you should already know, as it’s a “Made In USA” New Balance with premium materials and quality workmanship. In person and as you see in these photos, this shoe is highly recommended for all NB fans or anyone in general. It’s a clean-looking shoe that’s very wearable in this color-way and the best out of the 3 in my opinion. You can grab your pair now for $140 + $8.95 flat shipping within the US at JCrew’s online store. You can expect to see this pair in-store soon, if it’s not already there.
When my package arrived I was pleasantly surprised to see a very nice textured grey shoe box from JCrew. Originally, I thought this was the new boxes for their collaborations from now on. But, someone made a comment saying that their’s came in the regular NB boxes. After some thinking, I could only come up with one thought as to why I received this box. Maybe the original box that these came in got crushed or damaged and someone at the warehouse decided to put it in one of their own shoe boxes. It’s the only thing that seems logical because there’s no NB branding on the box, nor is there the information sticker tag. Thanks JCrew. smh
Enjoy the photos!
What do you think about them? On your feet or Not? by clicking on the STAR voting system above the post.
After work today, I went outside to do an outdoor photo-shoot. After a few minutes of creating photographs, I realized how dumb of an idea it was shooting in the freezing 5-degree temperature . So I stopped, and headed home. The things I do to create photos…., Anyway, here’s one of them for this post.
Note: All photographs in this feature may not be distributed, transmitted, cached, reproduced or otherwise used, except with the proper regulations cited here.
Is the blue really that vibrant in person?
It is, but you have to take into consideration the lighting making it pop a bit more. As with anything in life, lighting does affect it and gives colors different values depending on what light you are in. It does pop a lot against the browns. Notice though that the blue is consistent in the indoor and outdoor photos.
Angel, in your opinion what are the odds these will sell out? With these J. Crew collabs I usually try to wait until a coupon is available but I am worried these will be gone before then. I see the other two 998s are still available so I am torn.
They will not. They usually always tend to order more stock. You just have to wait a couple of weeks depending on the size. I doubt you have anything to worry about though.
VS is right, in my experience JCrew New balance’s are sleeper hits. Not to many sneaker heads on the hunt for them for some reason. I wear a size 7.5 US mens. Arguably one of the hardest sizes to get for any Made in america New balance or retro sneaker for that matter. I’ve never had a problem going to Jcrew’s site and purchase my size. Not even for the 1400 corks that recently came out.
If anything I’d recommend checking on them once a week or so. Jcrew also does coupon codes too (usually ranging from 10-30% off) so you may not have to pay retail either.
I dont get it either. These shoes are so clean and have come in some really nice C/W’s. Granted, it’s probably nothing new we haven’t seen, but the quality of the shoes are great. Definitely a sleeper hit. Make it limited to 200 pairs, and everyone will be over them. lol
Wow Angel, these 998′s are hot!
Even on that horrible picture used on the J.Crew web store i could see this is a special pair of sneakers, but after looking at your pictures i’m 100% convinced i need to buy these… those combinations of colors are awesome… it gives that blue some hypnotic effect.
I’m sure if J.Crew uses your pictures on their web store they will sell like hot potatoes.
I own a pair of J.Crew 998′s in the “New Navy” colorway (M998JC1) and these also look fantastic for real.
The photo used on the J.Crew web store do them no justice. I love the eye catching combination of bright and navy scotch 3M materials used on them.
And for their NB 1400 serie it’s just as bad… the true work of a disinterested and dispassionated photographer.
Only once you’ve seen them for real or on high quality pictures you know what you’re dealing with.
Your picture sets of different colorways of the J.Crew 1400 opened my eyes for these clean wonderful shoes.
It’s just a shame that, unlike the 998, J.Crew doesn’t ship the 1400 to most european countries.
It has something to do with the materials used on the 1400, probably it’s the wolverine leather.
But thanks to some U.S. eBay sellers i have been able to put my hands on 3 pairs so far.
Thanks Angel and keep up your great artistic work!
Yup. they did real nice by these Chilius. I’m actually going to contact them and pitch them my idea to see if they will hire me to do a campaign or something. Thats weird that they will not ship them because of the leathers. That crazy to me, but I’m sure there’s some logic behind. I still have to get a couple more 1400 myself. …and thank you.
I’ve contacted J.Crew some time ago about it and this was part of their reply:
“This particular item is unavailable to ship due to custom laws. We are restricted from shipping certain items internationally. These items may include some animal skins or fabrications with some synthetic additives.”
For this reason J.Crew doesn’t export the 1400 to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and the United Kingdom.
I can’t find a confirmation at any official New Balance website they actually use wolverine leather on their 1400′s, but on some sneaker info sites and the Mita web store (Japan) it’s mentioned that some 1400 models are made of pigskin and wolverine leather. So the only thing i can think of is the use of wolverine leather that’s causing the export restriction. It’s the only reason that makes sense to me, but i’m not sure.
As long as i can pick up a nice pair of 1400′s once in a while from eBay i’m happy… because of those restrictions the 1400 is a very exclusive sneaker here in the Netherlands.
Thanks for that. That’s an interesting factor and sucks because their are so many other people that would want these. Well at least Hanon is getting the original launch 1400 color-ways. Hopefully this means they will get future JCrew c/w’s.
http://www.hanon-shop.com/product.php?productid=36577&cat=648&page=1
http://www.hanon-shop.com/product.php?productid=36536&cat=648&page=1
Yep, i’ve seen the M1400MG and M1400MV pre-order possibilities also at Hanon and End Clothing.
That rises another question here: How is it possible that NB USA can export shoes to the UK that J.Crew may not export to the UK because of custom laws?
I can only hope it’s true and hope they will export the other J.Crew colorways in the future also to europe, although i’m not that happy about the pricetag –> £149 = €175 = $235 vs $140 (at J.Crew).
If you’re patient you will probably find better deals on eBay.
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your photos are much better than the one on Jcrew’s web site
anyone know where to get a sz. 9 . 9.5. or 10 in these. They are sold out on J crew website.