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Following their collaborative New Balance 998 ‘C-Note’, CNCPTS (Concepts) is back with another currency-themed New Balance. This time they’re tackling the exceptionally underrated New Balance 1000 model with a design that tells the story of the $1000 treasury note issued in 1890 dubbed the ‘Grand Watermelon Note’. This note is the single most valuable piece of currency in existence when it sold for $3,290,000 in 2014 and far exceeded its pre-auction estimate of $2 million. Now, it’s being turned into a sneaker.
It was given the ‘Grand Watermelon Note’ nickname because the large zeroes on the reversed side of the bill resemble watermelons, and that’s exactly what the NB 1000 “Míle” (meaning “thousand” in Gaeilge) is here to do with varying shades of green and white.
The New Balance x CNCPTS 1000 collaboration will be released in Australia on the 21st of March 2025 at 10:00 AEST. It will be available online at newbalance.com and the New Balance Galeries store in Sydney for $250AUD.
Originally released in 1999, the New Balance 1000 has become a fan-favourite for its futuristic styling, big mesh, and metallic hits. However, this new collaboration with CNCPTS throws most of that to the side and adds some much-needed colour to a silhouette that we think leaned too heavily into the Y2K past for it to catch on to the mainstream.
Visual cues from the iconic Grand Watermelon banknote are clear with the green and cream upper, but the hits of hot pink, inspired by the red seal from the bill, are what drew us to the shoe at first glance. Look closer and you’ll find an inverted standard mesh upper and synthetic overlay design alongside mesh underlays that emerge from prominent overlay panels. Of course, comfort is defined by a sole unit that features ABZORB cushioning at the heel and forefoot and a Stability Web midfoot shank. Good-looking and comfortable, sign us up.
Like all CNCPTS collaborations, the layers of this sneaker run deep. Beyond the colourway, and its correlation with St. Patrick’s Day and banknotes, the shoe box emanates the experience of discovering a stack of bills tainted by a dye pack.
“There were so many connecting storylines between our 998 C-Note, the $1000 note, and the Chicago bank heist that it only felt right to continue the currency theme,” said CNCPTS Creative Director, Deon Point. “On top of the design lending itself to the colours of St. Patrick’s Day, we’ve always had a history of interpreting holidays within select past collaborations too.”
If you want to get your hands on the New Balance x CNCPTS 1000, it will be released in Australia on the 21st of March 2025 at 10:00 AEST and will be available online at newbalance.com (linked below) and the New Balance Galeries store in Sydney for $250AUD.
