New Balance: From Arch Support Manufacturer to Footwear Icon
How the New England brand changed sneakers by merging aesthetic appeal with performance innovations.
Like many things quintessentially American, the story of New Balance begins abroad. In 1906, William J. Riley emigrated from Ireland to the United States and founded the New Balance Arch Support Company in the Boston area. Inspiration for the brand’s first arch support came from—of all things—the three-clawed anatomy of chickens. Riley even kept a chicken foot on his desk, explaining to prospective customers that chickens’ three-pronged foot resulted in perfect balance.
Steadily increasing its output of arch supports and other products designed to improve shoe fit, salesman Arthur Hall joined the fledgling company in 1927 and became a business partner seven years later. In 1956, Hall sold the company to his daughter, Eleanor, and her husband, Paul Kidd.
The duo continued manufacturing arch supports until 1960, when New Balance presented its inaugural footwear model, the Trackster, the world’s first running shoe to feature a ripple sole. An option that continues to define New Balance to this day, the Trackster was also the first running shoe to come in varying widths. College track teams including Tufts University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boston University adopted the Trackster, co-signing the sneaker’s performance capabilities and hinting at bigger things to come for the steadily growing brand.