New Balance

New Balance began in Boston in 1906 as the New Balance Arch Support Company, which William J. Riley founded to make arch supports and other aids for better-fitting shoes. Jim Davis bought the business in 1972 and still owns it, and New Balance remains unusual among the big athletic brands in making some of its shoes in the United States and in Flimby, England. Grey suede runners such as the 574, 990 and 992 made it a cult name, and collaborations with Aimé Leon Dore and JJJJound turned the dad shoe into a fashion object.