The Go-To Shoe for A-Listers: New Balance 327 Retro Style of 3 Originals

colorful snears on a white background

A little bit of a history lesson on the 327 sneakers is coming up. The new, New Balance 327 is a construct of three different original running shoe models. See, the New Balance 320 came out in 1976 as a runner. With oversized “N” logos on the quarter panels, the nylon construction with suede overlays was undeniably the best running shoe material. Well, at least, the Runner’s World Magazine thought so since they ranked the running shoe #1 in 1976 after its release. The bid “N” logo and the whole silhouette were used as inspiration for the reconstruction job for the 327 sneaker design. The 1977 New Balance 355 sneaker was a trailblazer, quite literally. The knobby or studded soles proved to be a more stabilizing shoe to hit the trails in. So, of course, the studded soles became a must-have for the 327 sneakers, too. Another New Balance shoe that was a top-notch performer in the late 1970s, was the Super Comp sneaker. The Super Comp was a breakthrough lightweight sneaker, that was perfect for the reconstruction of the New Balance 327 design. The result is a lifestyle and an ultimate leisure shoe that’s a definite favorite of the A-listers like Jen Anniston, Kendall Jenner, and Katie Holmes. Is it bound to be your new favorite, too?

Instant Success in the New Balance 327 Release

Digging through the related pages surrounding the New Balance 327 United Kingdom-based sneaker designer and the like, this happened. Highsnobiety landed an exclusive interview with Charlotte Lee, the 327 sneaker designer with New Balance across the pond. The reaction was overwhelming following the 2020 early release of the New Balance 327 sneaker with the collaborative collection with Paris’s luxury brand, Casablanca. The response from the social media platforms way preceded the shoe’s release, and the answer exploded after the awaited sneaker release came. And came and went, it did, but the sneaker isn’t losing any steam anytime soon. Lee has been working magic at New Balance in the United Kingdom since 2014 and says that nothing could’ve prepared her for the overwhelmingly positive response to the 327 sneaker design. She says, “Because I was using so many models from our back catalog, I was almost anticipating an overwhelming amount of negativity”. Lee strongly feels that New Balance did well by not over-selling the sneaker before it was released to the public with the new spin on the old models from the vault. Lee explains her theory, “I think the best products – not only from New Balance but from other brands as well – are those that don’t have as much of the spotlight initially,” to HB. The 1970s proved to be a pivotal decade for New Balance and heavy inspiration came easy to Lee, but she wanted to put modern spins on the design to ensure she’s not just creating “another shoe that looked like it was from the seventies.”. Two years in the making for Lee and the creators at Casablanca, no one was quite expecting the response received or the demand for the 327 sneakers. The unveiling of the sneaker model in January of 2020 occurred at the Paris Fashion week on the FW20 runway, Casablanca’s home base. Lee admiringly points out that “if you look at Casablanca’s collection, it just felt like they’d been designed together. That is a perfect collaboration when two brands come together and they’re on the same path…”. And, a perfect collaboration, you did achieve with the 327 sneaker designs Charlotte Lee!

Team Red New Balance 327 Mens Shoes
Photo Source: amazon.com

The Casablanca X New Balance Collaborative Collection

Charaf Tajer, the French-Moroccan founder of Casablanca après-sport aesthetic fashion, uses a palette of sunbaked terracotta from South Africa and the red clay of Stade Rolland Garros which are instantly evoked with the infusion of the fresh white of tennis skirts and pops of pastels in his style. Tajer accomplishes a sweet fusion of luxe and leisurewear for the nondescript hours of elegance and comfort after twilight. In the New Balance collaborations from Casablanca, the home base palette of Tajer is seen and the silhouette and design of the sneakers are seamlessly and flawlessly balanced in the style of each, Casablanca and New Balance.

The 5 different sneakers from the collaborative efforts of Casablanca range from bold and classic to soft and simple. The bold and classic sneakers borne from the collection use vivid colors on the uppers, the oversized “N” logo in pig suede, the knobby soles in the green and white colorway style, and the “idealiste”, the orange and green dual colorway. Two sneakers are made with the Casablanca design in a dark red color and one in the Boston-based counterpart’s heritage hue, grey. These colorways are Munsell white dark red holly green and Munsell white and holly green, respectively. On the softer side and less in-your-face feel of the other 3 sneaker designs, are born to be classics forever. The pastel accents, the white leather, nylon, and suede uppers, and the bold hues of the soles, are easily identifiable as a Casablanca style design, AND a New Balance life and style sneaker.

What’s even better is that the same style is adapted to the New Balance 237 running shoe. The French-Moroccan style designer has played a significant role in collaborating with New Balance for recreating and giving the punch of new color, style, and life to the New Balance 327, 237, and the XC-72 recently. Go and visit the Casablanca website to check out the sneaker models after you finish exploring the New Balance 327 here.

The Creation of the New Balance 327 Sneakers by New Balance

The 327 sneaker is a nylon silhouette with leather touches, and at the quarter panel, an oversized “N” logo is in suede. The New Balance 327 shoe features a knobby sole, almost a cleat-like aesthetic, but the sneaker soles are not cleats! The sole’s studs go from underneath the shoe and they continue up the heel for an exciting style that has a style for everyone! The 327 sneakers are a perfect pair for jeans and a clean tee-shirt or your favorite pair of joggers and tank top. What’s more, the peculiar style of the New Balance 327 shoe is even more perfect to pair with a mini dress, midi dress, leggings, and shorts. This sneaker goes with just about every type of dress, casual or business casual, you name it. The standard construction of the sneaker is a pigskin suede overlays above a nylon base, and a nylon tongue. Of course, the extra big “N” logo is provided on the quarter panel in various materials, like the Cardura that was a hit in the retro style of the 320, 355, and the Super Comp sneaker. The exaggerated fang feature on the uppers is a 70s-style design that’s found on all of the 327 sneakers. Last but not least, the lugged sole is also a retro style from the 1970s that you’ll find on all the soles of the New Balance 327 sneakers. Retro-style branding “The Intelligent Choice” under the tongue is a blast as an old slogan from the past. Since there are plenty of variations in the style of the 327 sneakers, we have a few to share with you.

Women's 327 Classic Trainer Sneakers
$99.90

by New Balance 

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02/18/2024 04:10 am GMT

New Balance 327 Incense and Metallic Siver Colorway

The almost pink pigskin suede overlay lays atop a nylon mesh upper that’s suited with an oversized “N” logo in metallic silver on the quarter panel. The white tongue bears a pink “NB” logo, the white midsoles deliver a pink “new balance” logo as well. The retro style of the lugged soles appears in a jet black that starts at the toe and stops at the heel. This 327 sneaker model is available in toddler, little kid, big kid, and men’s sizes to fit any foot.

New Balance 327 Black and Madras Orange Colorway

Here we have the suede and synthetic leather uppers that are black all over. The Cardura orange oversized “N” logo adorns the quarter panel atop black leather. Splashes of white are seen on the tongue, sock liner, and above the rubber lugged and rugged sole. On the language of the sneaker, you’ll find an orange “NB” logo and complete branding in white on the black mudguard. The toe to heel wraparound style of the way-back-when knobby soles is a gum orange hue. There aren’t any unique Halloween Vibes here, really, the shade of orange isn’t screaming “happy Halloween” necessarily.

New Balance 327 Sour Grape and Bleached Lime Glo Colorway

The purple nylon and grey hairy suede uppers make this 327 sneaker a great all-day-everyday shoe with comfort as its number one job. Maybe style is a second great competitor for the number one spot, too. In all its might and considerable stature, the bright lime green flush to the surface for the “N” logo has an accompanying flash of lime green lacing guide also on the tongue. The tongue, sock liner, and the knobby sole are all in a grey-black. You will discover a very minimalist look with this shoe, and rich color, too.

New Balance Men's Casual Shoes MS327HN1 Black
Photo Source: amazon.com

More Collaboration Efforts You Must Know About

In the mix is a born artist who isn’t fond of color, a New Balance youngster, and an all-American tennis player that can change everything you ever thought about tennis, period. A Menswear guru who has been a collaboration star for New Balance is taking us to have a few visits to the farmer’s market for the 327 sneakers. While Todd Snyder has collaboration tricks up his sleeve, he’s got one for a Jack Purcell edition collaboration, a Chuck Taylor sneaker. Let’s get the collaboration list started now.

The Artist Joshua Vides: [Don’t] Add Color?

On too many levels, the Guatemalan-born monochromatic artist from California just finished a New Balance 57/40 collaboration with a celebration of value rather than color. There’s a saying in the art world that makes his art make sense, “value (meaning the correct shades of color or the non-color on a scale in a painting)does all the work while color gets all the praise”. In this case, Joshua Vides has a strong eye for value, everything in art. After the release of the black and white 57/40 sneaker with a nice touch of black splatter, what will Joshua Vides come up with next for his take on the 327 sneaker?

Joshua Vides X New Balance 327: Black and White Colorway

Similar to the work Vides did on the 57/40 sneaker design, the black and white style was a hit. The all-black suede and leather upper of the 327 sneakers are complete with a reflective black “N” logo on the quarter panel all oversized and shiny. The pink lugged soles run from the toe all the way to the heel of the shoe because that is a constant in the style and design of all collaborator guests. Joshua Vides almost paints a signature with the splatter in white this time, and all over the sneaker, like splatter is his painting style. The all-black upper and the white midsole are a nice balance of dark and light. The sneaker was released to the public in late November of 2021 at an MSRP of $132.

Navy New Balance 327 Mens Shoes
Photo Source: amazon.com

All-American Tennis Whiz Coco Gauff

Cori “Coco” Gauff is a little spitfire on the courts and a real trailblazer at the young age of 18. Coco Gauff is a world-renowned tennis superstar who ranked well among the top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association and is the youngest ever! Her career-best tennis matches singles and doubles got her ranked 15 and 10, respectively. What she’s doing now is collaborating with New Balance to reimagine her unique style for the 327 sneaker design.

Coco Gauff X New Balance 327: White and Impulse Pink Colorway

Probably the most exciting shoe entirely. Whether you buy these 327 sneakers for a woman or man, the funky embellishments on just one side of the shoe, make the shoe design unique. Coco Gauff has style! The white on white leather overlays and nylon fill in between the exaggerated fangs and around the outer quarter panel donning the oversized “N” logo. The impulse pink fills the “N” of the humongous logo on the outward-facing quarter panel. On the inside board is a red leather overlay with 2 gold chain segments. How’s that for a statement-style piece? The wideset midsole atop the white lugged sole completes the collaboration with Coco Gauff.

Todd Snyder Is THE Menswear Style Guru

If you don’t already know who Todd Snyder is, you need to get a feel of his work through all the Google search results. Todd Snyder has led a prominent career in the style and design of menswear, starting from his flagship store in New York eponymous to him. After years of mentoring style and design students, raising 3 beautiful daughters, and marriage upkeep, Todd Snyder opened his second store ‘Todd Snyder in the Liquor Store’, and finds worthy collaborations to fill any spare time he can find. THAT’S a passion for style for sure!

327 Mens Shoes, Paradise Pink/Black
$288.50

by New Balance 

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Todd Snyder X New Balance 327: The Farmer’s Market Collection

In Todd Snyder’s collaboration with New Balance, there are three 327 sneakers, but he’s included a few unstructured blazers in a seersucker material. These coats are lightweight and lighthearted pieces to wear to a Farmer’s Market on a hot summer day. The 327 sneaker designs are named pineapple, pomegranate, and wheat in the collection from the collaboration. So, let’s see what Todd Synder has created this go-around.

New Balance 327 Pineapple Sneaker: Storm Blue and Light Grey Colorway

Todd has a talent for using a sneaker silhouette and dressing it up to match any dress. If you are going to a wedding, you could wear these sneakers and later you can dress down in a pair of jeans and it still matches. The greenish light grey suede overlays on top of storm blue nylon meshing create the upper of this funky and delightful shoe. The retro style of the split eye rows in a juicy pomegranate orange-red, the type of the wide midsole, and the matching orange hue of the studded sole are all great takes on the original style of the inspiration sneakers of the 327 sneaker.

New Balance 327 Pomegranate Sneaker: Ghost Pepper and Velocity Red Colorway

These red and orange hues are bolder than the Pineapple sneaker but more solid in the overlay. The standard shade for the split eye rows is the same orange suede over red nylon meshing on the upper. The friendly and clean style of the cream “N” oversized logo on the quarter panel reaches past the midsole of the same hue forming an overlapping effect. The lugged sole is a few shades richer than the red nylon on the upper. This is a go-to sneaker for any occasion.

New Balance 327 Wheat Sneaker: Workwear and Bone Colorway

The colors of the sneaker here are more neutral ones. So, the color ‘workwear’ is a dark grey and is the suede overlay atop the off-white mesh counterpart. The oversized “N” logo on the quarter panel is a dusty orange hue to tie into the rest of the collaborative collection. The white midsole and the bone color of the retro style extra-long and lugged sole of the sneaker model. Because of the functionality, the class, and comfort of the 327 sneaker collaboration efforts you will end up with the whole sneaker and jacket collection.

Summer Fog New Balance 327 Mens Shoes
Photo Source: amazon.com

Jack Purcell of the Chuck Taylor Converses Have Collaboration Efforts from Todd Snyder

It is a bit strange to bring forth new of another brand’s collaboration efforts with Todd Snyder, but the low-tops are a hot seller for the Jack Purcell collection. Jack Purcell was a great badminton player in the 1930s who retired and became a stockbroker before a sneaker deal. The original agreement was through BF Goodrich company who Converse later bought out. Even stars like Jimmy Dean, Steve McQueen, and Kurt Cobain were poster boys for the Jack Purcell low-top oxfords. If you like an excellent sneaker collaboration and a Chuck Taylor sneaker, check this one out.

Before We Go…

The sneaker collaboration efforts made on the New Balance 327 are hot sellers. If not for the likes of our favorite celebrities buying and donning the sneakers shamelessly, maybe the shoe is selling because of the hot designers. They put the sneaker love into each sneaker collaboration. Either way, there are always steps you can take to get those sneaker designs you want the most. You can use trusted and well-known companies online like StockX, or Foot Locker Inc brand websites for adults and children’s sneakers. Always check out the website URL that’s a secure site before sending any shipping information online. When in doubt, you can always contact the customer service hotline for New Balance for placing orders and any investor related questions and emotional disabilities aid.

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