A Closer Look at the Casablanca x New Balance XC-72
When you look at the Casablanca x New Balance XC-72, the first thing that you’re likely to notice is that it doesn’t really look like a lot of the other sneakers that are on the market these days. In fact, it doesn’t really look like most of the sneakers that have ever been available on the market.
There’s something very unique about it that gives it a more streamlined appearance. In reality, it almost makes it look like something from the future that’s somehow managed to punch a hole through time and end up in our universe.
There’s no doubt about it, this is a sneaker that’s definitely had a makeover to bring it into the modern-day world, but do all of those little adjustments that change the way it looks actually matter when it comes to the way it feels? In order to find the answer to that question, it’s time to take a closer look at this new product that is turning heads all over the world.
The Connection Between Fast Cars and This Sneaker
A lot of people tend to be reminded of the way that cars started appearing more streamlined during the 1970s when they look at this particular sneaker. It’s almost like something in your brain just clicks and you automatically think about the way automobiles used to be big and boxy and they’re now designed to cut through the air.
Somehow, your brain links that idea to these shoes and you almost start to envision the shoe running down a race track as if it had wheels on it. As it turns out, that’s exactly what the designers of the sneaker wanted you to think about. When Casablanca and New Balance set down to design the shoe, they looked to the more streamlined sports cars of the 1970s for inspiration.
There’s no doubt that their inspiration was effective. The product that you end up seeing before you is a sneaker that has an aerodynamic appearance, making it look like it could somehow make you infinitely times faster while you’re running down the track.
At the same time, it also has extra reinforcement around the base of the foot and extra tread in both the front and the back that come virtually halfway up the sneaker. It almost makes this particular shoe look like a very aerodynamic cross between a hiking boot and an athletic shoe.
It’s definitely not something that people are used to seeing. As is almost always the case in marketing, that was the point all along. The idea is to make people talk, and this is a sneaker that definitely has people talking.
It’s All About the Details
As is the case with most other products, the thing that makes this one special involves all of the little details that have been put into the product in order to make it stand out from the competition.
For example, the shoe has reinforced, treaded leather on both the toe and the heel. It looks great, but there’s actually a practical purpose to it all. If you do a lot of running and you spend time on your toes, this is a shoe that’s designed to grip the surface that you’re running on because it has a wider area this designed to successfully grab hold of that surface, thereby allowing you to propel yourself easier than you might be able to with some other type of shoe.
Again, there is a similarity between the shoe and a racing automobile. It doesn’t matter how fast a car is or how big an engine is if you don’t have tires that are able to grip the Earth and move it from one point to another as quickly as possible. That’s the same type of approach that the designers took with this shoe.
In addition, the shoe has air holes on the upper part of it and is reinforced with stitched suede. This gives it a good balance between providing the support that you need in an athletic shoe and allowing the shoe to breathe so that your feet don’t feel like they’re going to spontaneously combust, even on the hottest days.
As previously mentioned, it’s much more aerodynamic than most sneakers. Instead of the big boxy look, it’s actually designed to hug your foot, so that it much more closely resembles a human foot with an aerodynamic toe and a smooth slope that goes up toward the ankle.
A Partnership for the Ages
As it turns out, this isn’t the first time that Casablanca and New Balance have teamed up together. In fact, their first outing was to design the 327 back in 2020. Granted, that was only a couple of years ago but it looks like they have created a firm partnership with one another.
More importantly, they’re creating designs that people haven’t seen before, something that automatically increases the interest of potential buyers. As a result, there is every chance that they will continue their partnership well into the future. It’s not really as easy as it seems to create a shoe that’s truly unique.
Aside from designing shoes with unique materials that are more difficult to obtain and therefore more expensive, or adopting different color schemes, the world of footwear has remained largely unchanged for quite some time. That’s precisely what makes this particular shoe so special.
It’s truly different and it comes at a time when people are looking for something that is unique in appearance while simultaneously providing some type of practical benefit. This particular sneaker definitely fits the bill in both categories. It will be interesting to look back on the shoe in five years and see how the general public views it at that time.
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