ALD x New Balance 550
If I'm being honest, I wasn't looking forward to another 550, but once they came in, I was really impressed tbh. I have honestly been wearing this pack the most since I got the OG pack a few years ago.
Leather: On the leather pair, the majority of the upper consists of 2 shades of white/cream leather that is nice to touch the same that we've seen previously on ald collabs & I believe will crease very nicely overtime. On the straight above shot you can primarily see the 2 shades of white/cream in the toe area. Lastly, my favorite feature would be the N logo and back heel is made up of this soft fuzzy suede, which I feel was a nice little twist to give us something unique when comparing to what we've seen previously.
Suede: On the suede pair, the majority of the upper consists of this fuzzy suede that is surprisingly pretty soft to touch & has a nice color change. The only hit of leather is on the toe but is the same quality as what we have seen on previous ALD 550's. Next to mention would be the cracked N logo on the medial & lateral side (also what we have normally seen from ALD in the past. Lastly, the most mentioned and obvious feature is the blue hits on the logo of the tongue label. I don't notice it as much but while looking at it, it does create that bit of pop to the overall design.
Comfort/Sizing: the 550 is the most comfortable basketball sneakers when compared to all other designs alike. Out of the box, the support is sort of squishy but more stiff due to the chunky midsole, but breaks in pretty quickly. In terms of sizing, I always grab an 8 in 550's & I did with these as well and they fit me perfectly with no heel slip. If you have heel slip, I'd recommend lacing to the top lace hole
Overall Opinion: I truly like this pack more than the past few sets they have released previously. I'm a sucker for suede anyways, but the way the colors contrast is what I really enjoy. My favorite pair would definitely be the all suede pair, idk why, but they look really nice on foot & is prolly my favorite 550 since the OG evergreen pair. if you really liked this cw, I would grab them before they disappear