During Spring/Summer 2025 Paris Men’s Fashion Week in June, New Balance dropped one of the brand’s most unique collabs of the year featuring the 1906. But not everyone may have recognized the collaborator or its significance. The shoe had a very specific, distressed aesthetic, as well as an extremely limited release. Still, that didn’t stifle the impact of Basketcase, the SoCal-based streetwear brand which got a stamp of approval from NB in its infancy. The brand had a fan in someone internal to the sportswear giant, who wanted to tap into its young fanbase.
First launched in 2009, the 1906 sneaker—named after New Balance’s founding year—was built as a running shoe, with NB’s proprietary N-ERGY cushioning, NLOCK lacing system, and shock-absorbing gel.
Basketcase’s rendition celebrates deliberate imperfections like stitching, loosely connected pieces of fabric, and raw, asymmetrical edges. It was so well-received that even New Balance and Zach Kinninger, Basketcase’s founder, were surprised at the reception. Kinninger believes the partnership works so well because they were able to serve as a “young, cool lens to add new life to the shoe in a non-traditional way.”
Their success resulted in another collaboration, launching Nov. 8, this time in the New Balance Minimus MT10.
“We chose the shoe because it was a hard left from the 1906, and a lot more ambiguous with its low-profile silhouette, offering a fun challenge,” Kinninger tells Complex. “We wanted to take something that’s a little cute and make it feel more rugged.
“Previously, the only [collaboration] that the Minimus MT10 had was with Issey Miyake,” Kenninger continues, referring to Issey Miyake’s Spring/Summer 2024 collaboration. “It’s a challenging product to wear, but when you get it, it’s a really dignifying sneaker moment. It’s hard to have those anymore.”
Before Basketcase became a full-fledged streetwear label, it was Kinninger’s side project in college. While studying marketing and psychology at Vanguard University, he wanted to build a portfolio that could parlay into a job in fashion. With no prior industry experience, much of his interest initially came through self-taught graphic design, particularly creating tattoo stencils for himself and his friends in PhotoShop. Having grown up on Tumblr during the burgeoning Off-White diagonal lines days and the early era of SoundCloud’s rap, he used those as reference points to guide him on how to blend high and low-brow culture.
By 2018, his project became “big enough,” churning a monthly profit between $500 to $1,500, which was all Kinninger needed to reinvest into the brand and continue its expansion. He formally launched Basketcase in 2019.
The label is now known for merging bold graphic designs with well-curated upcycled pieces, threading the needle between fashion and sustainability. Vintage American sportswear and tattoo art serve as core inspirations. “The reason we were able to create some attention for ourselves is because we were like, ‘Why not not put a horse on a pair of vintage Levi’s?’ In some sense, that’s who we are,” Kinninger says. “As time has gone on, I feel more certain and confident in my own graphic approach.”
Every month, Basketcase’s team of 10 sifts through hundreds of vintage pieces to upcycle them into letterman jackets, knits, hoodies, tees, denim pants, and hats. Kinninger believes it’s best to rework timeless pieces so as not to become too era-specific. “The biggest thing is not wanting to put people in outfits they would look at 10 to 20 years from now and feel like it was a costume,” Kinninger says. “I want the products to feel like they’re informed by the era that we’re in, but that last five to 10 years, hopefully longer.”
His goal with every Basketcase piece is to replicate that exhilarating feeling of finding the one perfect vintage steal. He likens his design and curation process to a hip-hop producer finding beats to sample. “It’s all in the editing.”
With product drops moving at a breakneck pace in the wider industry, often diluting both product and story, Basketcase keeps its website closed until specific release periods, which is once a month. It’s a decision that’s equal parts creative as it is strategic. One of the biggest pieces of advice Kinninger has received is to mitigate excess inventory. His answer to that is creating bespoke garments through small-batch production, which has hit deeper with fans. It’s evident in the massive turnouts at the brand’s global pop-ups and sample sales.
Basketcase’s exclusive release strategy will continue on Friday, Nov. 8, with the brand’s next New Balance Minimus MT10 sneaker collab, which is only available by raffle. Entries are earned through purchasing pieces from the new Residency collection.
For the design of the Minimus MT10, it was only natural for Kinninger to tap back into the world of tattoo and work with artist Jamie Lopez to add hand-drawn, one-of-a-kind tribal designs. It’s not lost on him and his team the opportunity and responsibility they have to show up for the community they’ve built. “New Balance is a meaningful collaborator to show people that we’re a useful, meaningful voice. I’m excited for the challenges to get to touch a lot of different footwear models in the future,” Kinninger says. “Hopefully, we’ll get the opportunity to do more.”
Read the full article here
