New Balance Evangelion Collaboration
On October 12 2018, the Evangelion franchise teamed up with the world famous shoe brand New Balance and released a limited edition line of Evangelion ‘Fresh Foam Cruz’ design sneakers. The line consisted of 3 different designs, each based on characters and places significant to the Evangelion series. The design colors were also given name references from the anime, ‘First Impact’, ‘Second Impact’ and Third Impact’. In addition to the designs being different motifs to the anime, each pair sported a NERV organization logo mark on the tongue of the shoe.
Fresh Foam Cruz
The Fresh Foam Cruz is a popular collection from New Balance admired by fans for being sporty but fashionable. A sock-like fit style with knit bootie construction and comforting plush underfoot cushioning. The shoe is made from cotton knit fabric, nubuck and mesh and the sole is made of lightweight solid rubber.
FIRST IMPACT Color
The first color and most standout color in the New Balance x Evangelion collaboration is “First Impact”. This purple design was based on Evangelion Unit 01, piloted by the main character of the anime series, Shinji Ikari. On the heel of the shoes, an ‘AT field’ marking was added, which is a well-known barrier technique used by Evangelion Units in the series. In addition to the purple base, the left and right shoe had different secondary colors. The left-hand shoe was purple and green, portraying the regular Unit 01 in a ‘normal’ state. The right-hand shoe is purple and red, showing when Unit 01 goes into a ‘berserk’ state, a transformation in which the pilot Shinji would lose sense and reason, and Evangelion Unit 01 would turn super strong. This unique design and color are a combination of colors that any Evangelion fan would recognize as soon as they saw it. On the underside of the shoe, the sole is green and red, with the official name of Eva Unit 01, ‘Eva 01 - Test Type’ designed in black.
SECOND IMPACT Color
The second color in the lineup, and is a design also based on an Evangelion Unit from the Evangelion series. Complete with an ‘AT field’ marking similar to the FIRST IMPACT design. The difference to FIRST IMPACT is that this design has a two-tone color scheme based on not just one Evangelion unit, but two. The red left-hand shoe was created to form the design of the bright red Evangelion Unit 02 piloted by another main character from the anime series and movies, Asuka Langley Soryu. On the other side, the right-hand design is salmon pink, taking the color from the design of Evangelion Unit 08, piloted by Mari Makinami Illustrious, a Unit and character that made its first appearance in the most recent Evangelion Rebuild movies, Evangelion 2.0 and 3.0.
A combination of female pilots from the anime series, and a color combination that also would receive a good reception from female Evangelion fans. On the underside of the shoe, has the name of each Eva Unit, 02 and 08 on their respective sides.
THIRD IMPACT Color
THIRD IMPACT is the third available color in the limited edition lineup and the only design that wasn’t designed to resemble an Evangelion Unit. This set had a sleek black design, with a grey paint spray-type midsole design, this color theme was made as a motif of the NERV Headquarters. This headquarters was the main base for the holding of the Evangelion Units with a control center that supported characters such as Shinji and Asuka when they went on missions to fight the enemy ‘Angels’ on their Eva missions. Instead of the ‘‘AT field’ marking that FIRST and SECOND IMPACT designs had, this design has a ‘Top Secret’ mark. A very low-key style of design that was popular for not being too ‘showy’ and good for the Evangelion fan that wanted to wear Evangelion sneakers but didn’t want to be noticed too much. At first glance passersby would not notice the theme of the shoes. Only on the sole of the shoe was a large indication of the collaboration with the word ‘Evangelion’ stamped in dark text.
Limited Edition Present
At the time of the release of the New Balance Evangelion collaboration lineup in October 12 2018, fans that made a purchase would go into the draw to win limited edition keychain versions of their purchased designs. This campaign was a draw with only 10 people.
Other Apparel Collaborations
In the past New Balance and Evangelion had a subtle collaboration creating the same Fresh Foam Cruz 247 model sneakers in Evangelion Unit 01 burgundy and white color in 2017. The sneakers were also to come in special Evangelion packaging. Instead of the traditional cardboard shoe box, the pair came with a white zip-up bag with the Evangelion logo on it. However this was very limited and said to be only released in China.
In addition to the limited edition collaboration project between New Balance and Evangelion, the franchise has also teamed up with other big apparel labels such as Uniqlo and GU. Evangelion teamed up (officially or unofficially is unknown) with Nike, creating a set of Evangelion Air force ones.