Everything
You’ll need to be quick to grab a piece from the latest collaboration between New Balance and District Vision. Getting your hands on the footwear or any of the apparel from the hotly anticipated range at Dubai Mall will require the kind of speed regularly displayed by the athletes modelling the new line: American sprinter Sydney McLaughlin and jet-heeled English footballer Eberechi Eze.
Aiming to “celebrate the spirit of the journey”, the third partnership between sports giants New Balance and eyewear brand District Vision is the first to launch exclusively in the Middle East and features the FuelCell SC Elite v4 shoe as its star performer. Equipped with FuelCell technology for extra propulsion, the 1990s-inspired lightweight shoe comes in grey or black and carries discreet branding, an oversized angular sole, and a thin carbon fibre plate concealed inside to provide the wearer with energy return.
Sitting somewhere between performance kit and streetwear, the apparel from the New Balance x District Vision collection catches the eye with its primary colour palette and – in the case of a 90s rugby shirt – boxy silhouettes. Made from New Balance’s effective moisture-wicking NB DRY fabric, the contemporary pre-race clothing such as the ultralight wind jacket, roomy track pants and cropped anorak is water resistant and woven to keep athletes snug and dry in their warm-up before they unleash their speed in the heritage-inspired running shorts, singlet, half tights and trail shorts. Details such as Japanese woven drawcords on the half tights add substance and technical know-how to the range.
As one of the fastest footballers in the world today, Eberechi Eze doesn’t require any additional help from the propulsion in New Balance’s latest SC Elite shoe, but for leaden-footed mortals like ourselves, the FuelCell technology could be a game changer. A dynamic and stylish player for Crystal Palace in the English Premier League, Eze signed with New Balance in 2021 and is no slouch off the pitch either – the 25-year-old sat front row at Burberry’s London Fashion Week show in 2023.
Sydney McLaughlin, meanwhile, is preparing to defend her Olympic 400m hurdles crown. The current world champion and world record holder won gold in Tokyo last time and is expected to cruise to another victory in Paris this summer.
