NEW BALANCE x SBTG 990v1 ('N' FOR NEVERMIND')

On February 6, 2020, SBTG aka Mark Ong posted this picture in the classic grey 990v1 with an obvious change…the icon ‘N’ was replaced with an apple logo to pay homage to Steve Jobs and his frequently paired gray NB’s. With the confidence I’ve built communicating and putting together projects with Mark, I contacted him to see what we could do with a 990v1 being that I never owned one, and this is what he came up with!

This is where I lead you on haha. I’ll begin with the signature SBTG Surplus box label that is found on all of my SBTG projects (this making the 3rd). This is a simple touch that I think is critical for any customer because it individualizes your pair.

Mark told me along with my pair would come a small care package full of NB goods; I was excited to find a NB bucket hat, 800 series patches, stickers, and pins. It’s small stuff like this that brings any pair to the next level + brings you closer to the seller.

Under my NB bag there was my personalized hangtag that displayed my name and the shoes’ title staring me right in the face.

Now that the shoes are exposed let’s start with the obvious; the ‘N’ for Nevermind; created under SBTG’s latest project: Egatobas. Mark briefly described this logo as ‘Nevermind’ which was the first thing to come to mind as he removed the original ‘N’ from the side panel of this 990v1. Mark emphasized, “It was a simple as that.”

Mark didn’t stop at just stitching on the ‘N’; he wanted to make sure people knew this was a SBTG custom so it was branded appropriately with his tasteful Kool Grey lace lock that tied in with the grey suede upper and ‘SABOTAGE’ ironed across the heel.