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Hi TET,
Hope all is well in Tokyo. Hoping we can come visit soon when the COVID situation gets better. There is no city in the world that I miss more!

We are very excited to launch this second collaboration. After the success of the 992 program last year, we know there are consumers worldwide waiting for the next chapter of NB x WTAPS.

We consider the 990 the most important and iconic franchise within the New Balance archive. This franchise began with the 990v1 in 1982, after four years of design and development, with a grey-dominant colorway and a $100 price point, both of which were unprecedented in the running industry at the time. As you know, the grey coloring has since become a key component to New Balance’s identity. The simple approach to the color grey allows NB to focus on the quality and functionality of our product while simultaneously speaking to a diverse range of consumers. The neutral tones allow the 990 to be a timeless and versatile fashion staple that transcends consumer-types or age groups.

In 2022, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 990 so we chose to collaborate on all of the heritage versions of the model with some of our best collaborative partners across the globe leading up to this anniversary. Since New Balance has such a long history with Japan, we thought it made sense to tell this story with WTAPS, our most prominent Japanese collaborative partner. Knowing that WTAPS has a similar relationship with the color grey, the pairing of NB x WTAPS to the 990 franchise made complete sense.

Look forward to rolling out this project with you and the team. Thanks,

TET I’m happy if you could say so.

This time as well, I thought about as WTAPS how to get close to 990v2, the greatest model of NB heritage.

After all, NB coloring is the part that I personally like the most, so I focused on the color detail both last time and this time.
While the color detail of NB is particularly attractive because of its grey gradation, I wanted to take special care about it.

I also paid an attention to the impression of the grey tone of the upper and the color scheme of the parts, to finish its impression well-balanced, as not too strong but also not too weak.

I wanted to make it in such a design that It blends into the outfit rather than eccentric, yet casually eye-catching.

TET Well, last time was the first collaboration with NB,
First of all, I feel the love for NB from Mr.Tetsuya and all the staff involved, including you.
After all, I was able to objectively think that a brand can be communicated to the outside only if the people involved in it loves it.
Our brand’s culture behind it are different from those of NB, but we try to take good care of the eyes we have cultivated there and make the most of them to strengthen our brand’s power.

However, if I say this, hope it won’t be a misleading for you, recently I think that the history we have been walking is like the flow of a river, it does not show the same shape retroactively, it has still not been matured yet.
Therefore, I think it is very important to do what we are doing now so that we will not be trapped in the past, and to do our best and praise each other with everyone involved in the brand at this moment.

I think the essential thing is to move toward the goals we have set, not to be aware of what you see or be seen in unrelated places.
I’d like to evaluate that we are working toward the goals which we’ve set together.