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New Balance and Bronze56K take on this archival sneaker design

New Balance, Bronze56K release a new stylish skate shoe

By Leslie Leon Published May 19, 2025

overhead view of New Balance sneakers — New Balance / New Balance

New Balance isn’t just known as an architect of the sneaker-loafer trend. The athletic brand is also known for its performance footwear across multiple sports and activities. The brand has covered everything from lifestyle to running, and it’s now taking a special focus on its skating gear. Along with NYC skate label Bronze56K, New Balance is unleashing a new version of its skate model that brings a vintage and classic touch to the sneaker. Following many collaborations and reiterations, New Balance’s skate series has a long history with the brand that has slowly modernized itself. Adding a new collaboration to the mix, there’s no doubt that New Balance’s skate series will grow into a must-have for skaters and non-skaters alike.

Bronze56k x New Balance Numeric 480 skate shoe

As part of New Balance’s skate series, the 480s, the brand has turned to New York-based skate label Bronze 56K for a new look of the retro sneaker. While inspired by skate shoes from the ‘80s and ‘90s, these sneakers have been updated to meet the needs of current skaters. Crafted with black leather, this design stands out with the use of copper and bronze details on the toe and branding. Inside, these skate shoes retain some of New Balance’s renowned footwear technology with the addition of FuelCell, which helps skaters propel themselves forward with more ease. A reinforced toe cap adds another layer of support against wear and tear. Available via the New Balance webstore and select skate shops, these new sneakers retail for $120.

Leslie is a Los Angeles-based writer and content creator. After attaining a bachelor's degree in journalism from California…

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Footwear

Fashion & Style

Breitling’s new Top Time is a wearable tribute to the Aston Martin DB5

The new watches rep the iconic Bond car right down to subdials shaped like its dashboard gauges.

Car, Watch, Man

Breitling just released a trio of heaters: the Top Time B01 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Aston Martin DB5, a three-edition collaboration with the British carmaker. The connection between the Swiss watchmaker and the British car company runs back to 1965, when a Top Time ref. 2002 appeared on Sean Connery's wrist in Thunderball, worn alongside the DB5 — the first Q-modified watch in the Bond series. It's a nice bit of trivia that the DB5 and that Top Time shared the screen in the same film, and both went on to outlive the movie by decades.

The car cues go deeper than the "squircle" gauge-shaped subdials: a wooden inner ring nods to the DB5's steering wheel, and each edition rides on a hand-colored gradient calfskin strap meant to read like automotive upholstery. All three run on Breitling's in-house Manufacture Caliber 01, a COSC-certified automatic chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve, visible through a sapphire caseback and finished with an Aston Martin-engraved rotor. The case measures 41mm. The editions are divvied up by material and rarity. Stainless steel with a silver dial is limited to 1,022 pieces and sticks closest to the original ref. 2002, while steel with a platinum bezel and black lacquered dial drops to 315 pieces.

Fashion & Style

Look to the sky for these space themed watches

These 5 space themed watches will have you seeing stars

Accessories, Strap, Wristwatch

It was the 1960s. We were in the middle of a Cold War with Russia, and instead of escalating to an actual war with bullets and bombs, we took the conflict to the sky. We created a war of economics, science, and morale in a race to the sky to be the first nation to reach the moon. While the race picked up throughout the decade, it came down to the wire before the USA won the race by landing on the moon (if you believe that sort of thing and don't believe Stanley Kubrick directed the greatest ruse of all time). In any case, no race can be run without a good timekeeper. And watches were a must-have for all involved. Ever since, chronophiles like me have been obsessed with space-themed watches and, in particular, moon mission watches.

That is why I happened to have this list in my head. Five watches that bring the space race and the great beyond to the forefront of thinking to build a collection that is out of this world.

Fashion & Style

Legendary designer has a project coming up you may not know about

Legendary designer, Tom Ford, is writing and directing a film adapting the Anne Rice novel, Cry to Heaven

Accessories, Formal Wear, Tie

Tom Ford is a name that every fashionisto knows well. He is the top of the top when you talk about famous suit makers. He began his career changing the landscape of multiple brands, including Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, before launching his own self-named brand of his own in 2005. The brand has remained a mainstay in the industry for the last 20 years, including the acquisition of Estée Lauder in 2022 for an estimated $2.8 billion. For the movie buffs in the room, you also likely know about Tom Ford because he became the exclusive tailor and suitmaker for Daniel Craig's James Bond for Quantum of Solace in 2008. He carried that gig all the way through the series and defined men's style for two decades.

Now, for the real cinephiles in the room, you may also know that Tom Ford himself is a movie buff and entered the industry as a writer and a director in 2009 by directing A Single Man with Colin Firth and Julianne Moore. Then again in 2016 with Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon. Of course, the wardrobe was stellar in both, and we will get a chance to see his talents onscreen again this fall with a new Anne Rice adaptation, Cry to Heaven.