END. TRACES SEVEN GENERATIONS OF THE NEW BALANCE 990

The New Balance 990 has reached its seventh generation, and the gaps between versions have shrunk from 16 years to four. The 990v1 came out in 1982, the v2 in 1998, the v3 in 2012, the v4 in 2016, the v5 in 2019, the v6 in 2022 and the v7 in 2026. END. is launching the 990v7 tomorrow, November 6, at endclothing.com and in all END. stores, and its Features team has published a history of the model that covers more than 40 years.

1982: A Hundred Dollars and Four Years of Work

The 990v1 was built in the United States and came out in 1982 at $100, which made it the first New Balance shoe to retail at that price. One account puts four years of research and development behind it. The original was priced as a premium running shoe, and in 2018 New Balance sold a limited run of 1,500 pairs of the 990v4 "1982" at that original price, a nod to how far the number has moved. Nothing in the 1982 shoe suggested a fashion object. It was a premium running shoe, priced like one.

The first update took far longer than the shoe's reputation implies. New Balance did not touch the 990 until 1998, 16 years later, and the v3 followed in 2012, another 14 years on. For three decades the 990 was a product that changed only when it had to.

2012 to 2022: A Version Every Three or Four Years

After the v3, the calendar compresses. The v4 arrived in 2016, four years after the v3, which END.'s history describes as a refinement of the family. The v5 followed in 2019, three years later, and added TPU parts. The v6 arrived in 2022, another three years on, in the 40th anniversary year of the model.

Set out as intervals the 990 reads 16, 14, 4, 3, 3 and 4 years. The first two gaps add up to 30 years. The last four add up to 14, and they produced four versions. Whatever else the 990 is, since 2012 it has been a product on a release schedule.

What Each Version Took Out

The v5 carried plastic ankle supports and TPU parts, and the v6 removed the plastic supports and switched to a FuelCell and ENCAP midsole, according to reviews of the 2022 shoe. The Sole to Soul comparison describes the v5 as traditional in look and construction and the v6 as more modern.

The v7 continues the path. As covered in the launch report on the 990v7, it has a softer FuelCell midsole with Encap, a TPU midfoot shank and a redesigned suede upper, and its ad reads Dad's back. The launch pair is the Kool Grey, style U990GR7, which returns the model to the grey it has worn since 1982.

Supermodels in Milan and Dads in Ohio

END.'s own line for the history is that the 990 helped make dressing like your dad a serious style proposition. Its feature runs from the original's $100 price tag to what it calls "supermodels in Milan and dads in Ohio," a pairing that explains the shoe's appeal better than any spec sheet: the same shape worn by someone who runs the show in Italy and by someone who coaches Little League in the Midwest.

END. has told this story before. Its earlier feature, The New Balance 990: Six Generations of Vanguard Runners, was published for the v6, and the retailer has worked with New Balance on a pop up celebrating 36 years of the 990 series. The v7 history extends the first piece by one generation.

The broader argument has been made elsewhere in the archive, in a piece on how New Balance spent 40 years being uncool and then became the coolest sneaker on earth. The generation count gives that argument a measurement. A shoe that waited 30 years for its first two updates has had four more in the 14 since.

Seven Generations by the Numbers

The 990 has a $100 origin in 1982, a 16 year wait for the v2, a 14 year wait for the v3 and four updates in the 14 years since. The v7 lands tomorrow, and the next interval, whether it is three years or four, is the number the series will be judged on.