New Balance 327 Rich Earth (Women's)

Released on 9 February 2023 and part of New Balance's 327 line. This release has a suede upper in Rich Earth/True Brown. Rich Earth puts the 327 in brown, which is where this silhouette should probably have started. The model is New Balance reworking its own 1970s racing shoes rather than reissuing them: the N stretched across the side wall and onto the sole, a stubby toe, an outsole flared at the heel like a cross country flat. Those originals were made for grass, mud and school meets, so an earth palette is closer to the source than any bright colourway. In the women's build it gets a slimmer last as well, which suits the low, tapered shape. The result is the 327 read as heritage rather than as a graphic exercise.