JJJJound and New Balance are back this season with another collaborative sneaker, this time riffing on the popular 2002R silhouette. And guess what: it’s their best one yet!

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Dressed in a subtle blue-gray colorway, JJJJound's take on the 2002R features everything you’d expect from the techy-looking New Balance silhouette — an “N” logo, chunky midsole, mesh paneling — but with the small addition of the Canadian label's minimalist signature on the tongue.

Expected to release on October 26, JJJJound's New Balance 2002R "Storm Blue" sneaker will launch exclusively on JJJJound's website for $170. Much like their other collabs, a speedy sellout is expected. So, have those typing fingers ready.

Of course, JJJJound and New Balance are no strangers to collaborating having already dropped a handful of 990v3s and a 991 in recent years. The 2002R, though, is an entirely different beast for the Justin Saunders' founded label and also one of the newest silhouettes in the New Balance arsenal having only debuted in 2010.

Typically, JJJJound's take on the sneaker is minimal and, honestly, not too dissimilar from an inline 2002R New Balance. Sure, this might seem a little negative, but it isn’t: adding a logo to an already popular sneaker has been JJJJound’s thing for a while now — and it’s clearly working.  

Take its recent Crocs collaboration, for instance, which was literally just a branded plain white clog, or the unmistakably mundane Reebok Club C.

But hey, JJJJound is just JJJJound-ing and if they’re selling, who are we to tell them otherwise? Plus, in truth, if I’m being totally honest: JJJJound’s FW23 New Balance 2002R is its best one yet, so I'm not complaining.

This article was published on September 29 and updated on October 14