New Balance is bringing Aussie spirit to the Australian Open
In a new capsule collection with our local Grand Slam, New Balance has your spectator style sorted – all the way down to a special edition sneaker
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OUT OF ALL the grand slams, the Australian Open is one of the most stylish. Stylish in the sense that there’s no formal dress code (unlike Wimbledon, for example), so there’s much more room for personal style to come out during our January summer. This applies to spectators just as much as it does the players. You could chalk it up to our laidback culture, but it’s at Melbourne Park where we’ve witnessed some of the best and most expressive on-and-off-court style.
But when anything goes, it can be hard to narrow down your spectator look. Sure, you can skim through photos of celebrities at the various Slams, but this year, we’re looking towards New Balance for fit inspo. As the Australian Open’s official performance apparel and footwear partner, the brand has just released its 2025 collection, and not only is it perfectly wearable – it celebrates our Aussie spirit.
Key pieces include T-shirts, polos, hoodies, tanks, shorts and track pants; performance wear that the brand has thoughtfully designed so that “athletes and fans alike experience the perfect fusion of form and function”. It’s a suite of pieces that, whether you’re watching on from the grandstand or playing centre court, you’re dressed appropriately either way.
The Boston-based brand’s ode to Australia comes in a colour scheme of greens, yellows, and blues, which are informed by the landscape around us. Fitting, really, as the brand opted to make these shades less bold in tone – in a retro-inspired nod, they’re softer on the eyes.
The pièce de résistance? It’s the T500. Ever since we wrote about the New Balance sneakers currently staging a coup on the footwear scene, take this as our addendum. Simply because it solves one of our wardrobe’s gaping quandaries: the T500 will become the tennis shoe of summer 2025, available in a new, all-white colour way.
Now for a quick history lesson: the T500, which first dropped in 1982 as a premium on-court tennis shoe, was reintroduced in 2023 as part of New Balance’s mainline lifestyle sneakers (imagined as more for leisure than competition). Now, we expect to see it take off in a whole new way, during this moment of brands cracking open their own archives, in search of what other sport-specific sneakers might make a comeback (we’ve seen it before for basketball or soccer).
It makes sense, then, why people are taking notice of tennis shoes. For starters, the T500 is sleek. With its nubuck construction and pigskin suede uppers, perforated toe-box and vulcanised sole reminiscent of older tennis models, the sneaker fits into the currently favoured low-cut silhouette. And in 2025, a new T500 colourway is poised for a hard launch at the AO.
For those attending the AO, great news, the full co-branded range will be available to shop at New Balance’s retail activation at the tournament, located outside Rod Laver Arena, from Monday January 6. And for those of us who won’t be making the journey south this year, you’ll also be able to snag the pieces on the New Balance website and at Tennis Australia’s online store, as well as New Balance’s Melbourne Central and Chadstone stores.
Discover the collection here.
Related:
10 of the freshest New Balance sneakers on the market right now
