Stone Island’s New Balance Tokyo Design Studio RC ELITE Races In This Weekend
The x RC ELITE is not only one of the longest sneaker names in recent memory, but also one of the most divisive among both SI and NB fans. This collaboration of international involvement was teased over the course of many months, and when the full reveal was made in September, there were certainly some passionate responses. In short, many hated them as they argued the RC ELITE, a high-performance running shoe was so far removed from the core Stone Island consumer and product.
While those thoughts have been simmering for almost a month since, the upcoming release and new set of retailer images might be able to sway prospective customers on side.
Objectively, this colab is a technical masterpiece – just look how complicated that welded overlay pattern must have been to design, especially with the variable mesh underlays and massive toe box logos. The FuelCell midsoles should also be super responsive and comfortable underfoot.
The hardcore Stone Island fanbase may be forgetting about the brand’s underlying drive for technical innovation which is at the core of many of their flagship products, and the RC ELITE embodies it too. However, the market will vote with their wallets when the colab releases on October 23 at retailers including END.