New Balance and inner peace collective District Vision are launching on March 17 a new partnership comprised of an activewear capsule and micro-courses on mindfulness and mental health.
The partners developed technical apparel pieces including long-sleeved T-shirts, shorts, tights, light jackets and anoraks, featuring design elements from artist Filip Pagowski, who did the Comme des Garçons Play logo, and rapper Drake’s “Summer Sixteen” album art. They also produced multiple colorways of New Balance’s FuelCell RC Elite v2 sneakers, all ranging in price from $55 to $220 on the District Vision website on March 17 and New Balance on March 24.
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“The concept of the apparel is to create this idea of a team kit,” said District Vision cofounder Tom Daly. “It’s premised from the New Balance archive when they started apparel in the 1970s and looks at what they did to push the sport forward.”
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Founded by Daly and Max Vallot in 2016, District Vision began with eyewear before launching apparel at the end of 2018. The direct-to-consumer brand slowly entered wholesale, launching with Mr Porter exclusively for the first six months before expanding to other partners.
To date, they have 40 to 50 accounts, including Ssense, Matchesfashion, Browns, End Clothing and Dover Street Market. They also recently launched a collaboration with brand and wander.
The cofounders met at 16 at university in London and embarked on separate journeys through design and fashion, Daly at Acne and Vallot at Saint Laurent among others. They had an epiphany about eight years ago and realized there is a different way to live, and found running to be the outlet to approach wellness.
“District Vision has always had a commitment to teaching mindfulness since the inception,” said Vallot. “It started with us going to marathons and stores and showing a handful of runners what we were doing like workshops and retreats. During the pandemic we’ve taken it online and it has taken the form of an online portal with micro courses.”
The courses cover topics like breathwork and meditation. “We had dabbled in it and started putting the pieces together and then New Balance approached us.”
The duo teamed with New Balance on micro-courses that will feature the footwear brand’s athletes and ambassadors like Emily Sisson and Brenda Martinez who will speak on what they do to overcome mental hurdles, and partner, rapper, actor and mental health awareness advocate, GaTa who speaks about how running shifted his approach to mental wellness. Each micro-course is made up of five chapters and will be available on the District Vision website beginning March 10.
“We’re always looking for new partners in the running business,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, New Balance global director performance marketing. “The idea of the course work is something that has always been at the forefront of this partnership. It’s something we’re really excited for.”
New Balance has upped their collaboration game with brands Aimé Leon Dore, led by now New Balance Made in USA creative director Teddy Santis, and Joe Freshgoods, the footwear brand’s creative director of its new “Conversations Amongst Us” campaign.
Fitzpatrick commented on the District Vision collaboration saying that New Balance was looking for a brand “with relevance in run culture,” in addition to their importance in wellness.
“We’re really excited for this partnership,” Fitzpatrick said. “A lot of what we focused on in the pandemic is consumers turning to running for their well-being so this was a natural connection.”
He did not share what collaborations are coming next for New Balance, but Daly and Vallot shared they are launching women’s in April and have collaborations with fellow running brand Tracksmith and footwear with Suicoke.