DEF × New Balance — Aotea 574

DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept

The collaboration reached the eleventh hour before falling through because of global cuts.

We had invested a lot in the concept, so we decided to show what could have been. The shoe paid homage to Aotea Square — hallowed ground and an epicentre of New Zealand street skating — and would have arrived with a magazine connecting photographs from then and now.

The colours came from the square itself: burgundy brick paving, off-white stone and the Town Hall, grey steel ledge edging, blue glass balustrades and green lawns reflected in the footbed. The wider concept also included a matching deck and an Aotea Square: Now and Then photo zine, connecting the place’s skate history with its present.

Aerial view of Aotea Square and the proposed DEF × New Balance collaboration
DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 6 DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 7
DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 8 DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 2 DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 3 Aotea Square skate photographs from then and now Skateboarder skating a ledge in Aotea Square DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 4 DEF × New Balance Aotea zine concept board in burgundy and sandstone DEF × New Balance Aotea Now and Then zine covers and skate photograph spreads DEF × New Balance Aotea 574 skateboard deck concept DEF x New Balance Aotea 574 concept 5