JJJJound revisits the New Balance 990v3.
By Basecamp Staff Writer @ttv_h_o_m_e_r_
image via @cakenotcrumbs
When JJJJound first announced its partnership with New Balance in 2018, the two brands introduced a singular colorway of the New Balance 990v3 that would go on to become one of the most recognizable collaborations in contemporary sneaker culture.
At the time, there was nothing particularly flashy about the 990v3. No attempt was made to transform the silhouette into something that it wasn't. Instead, JJJJound stayed true to its roots, stripping the 990v3 down to its essential elements and allowing the simplicity of the sneaker to speak for itself. That approach would ultimately become a defining foundation of JJJJound's enduring relationship with New Balance.
image via @jjjjound
Nearly eight years later, JJJJound is teasing another New Balance 990v3. The upcoming "Tan Suede" release appears to continue the brand's signature use of tonal, almost deliberately quiet, color palettes. While multiple 990v3 projects have emerged since that first collaboration in 2018, the latest iteration suggests that JJJJound still sees something worth exploring in the silhouette that helped cement its presence within contemporary fashion history.
The original release may have flown under your release radar, but the story of JJJJound and New Balance clearly isn't over yet. If anything, this latest tease feels like a return to where it all began with a familiar silhouette, and a restrained approach.
However, the New Balance 990v3 is only one example of how JJJJound has built this identity around simplicity. Over the years, JJJJound has collaborated on multiple projects with other brands including Reebok, BAPE, Eddie Bauer, Vans, Crocs, and many more. But rather than imposing an entirely new identity onto every project, JJJJound starts with what is already there, then subtracting.
Details that might otherwise compete for attention are given room to breathe, and the result is often immediately recognizable. That balance is arguably where the studio's strength lies.
Many collaborations, such as with Eddie Bauer, demonstrate that JJJJound's aesthetic isn't dependent on streetwear culture. It isn't necessarily about making every collaboration look identical; it's about approaching very different objects through the same lens. This is what makes JJJJound's extensive list of collaborations so interesting.
The studio can work with a variety of brands that have decades of history behind them without erasing that history. Instead, it seems to ask a simpler question: What happens if we take away everything that isn't necessary? Sometimes the differences are in a color. Sometimes in the materials. Sometimes it's about a tiny logo placement, or an otherwise familiar product presented in a slightly unfamiliar way.
These changes may be subtle, but that subtlety is precisely what sets JJJJound apart from the rest. JJJJound knows that they don't need to reinvent a new formula. Instead, they simply refine what already works best.
Perhaps that is the larger story behind JJJJound's collaboration history. Perhaps that's exactly why the 990v3 still feels so unmistakably JJJJound nearly a decade later.
