New Balance Numeric 480 gets its first GORE-TEX version at $160

New Balance has given its Numeric 480 skate shoe its first GORE-TEX version. The waterproof release lands in skate shops starting October 9, then drops on the brand's own website on October 12 at the same $160 price. It carries a price of $160.

That is a step up from the standard model. The 480 typically retails for $100, but those pairs are not waterproof. The membrane is the headline difference between the two, and the figures are the ones New Balance is asking at launch.

This is not New Balance's first GORE-TEX sneaker, since the brand has previously released waterproof 1906s and DynaSoft trail runners. It is, however, the first time the 480, part of the Numeric skate line, has been given the treatment.

The 480 is already a well-regarded silhouette, with a simple, skate-ready design and a run of fashionable color options. Building a version for rainy days is a smart extension of that formula, and the shoe has been compared to a classic skate Dunk.

The two-step release is deliberate. Skate shops get the shoe first, on October 9, giving the specialty retailers that built the category a head start. The general release follows on New Balance's website three days later, on October 12.

New Balance Numeric is the brand's skateboarding line, and the 480 is one of its low-profile staples. We have followed the line in our coverage of scene, including when the Numeric 440v2 High arrived in a Quicksand colourway.

What the GORE-TEX 480 changes

GORE-TEX is a waterproof, breathable membrane, and on a skate sneaker it means the upper repels water rather than soaking it up. For skaters who ride through wet pavement, that is a practical upgrade rather than a cosmetic one.

The price is the awkward part. New Balance is asking $160 for the same silhouette that usually costs $100, and it has not detailed whether anything else changes, from the tooling to the materials beneath the waterproof upper.

Waterproof footwear is spreading into streetwear generally. We reported on Victor Kan's Timberland Euro Hiker Gore-Tex getting a final release, another case of a membrane moving beyond its trail and hiking roots.

For styling, the 550 remains the brand's best-known court-inspired sneaker, and our lookbook on how to wear the New Balance 550 shows how casually these silhouettes now wear. The 480 GORE-TEX adds wet-weather utility to that same everyday audience.

How the release unfolds

Skate shops have the shoe from October 9, and the brand's website follows on October 12. That gives specialty retailers a short window before the shoe is available directly from New Balance at the same $160 price.

Anyone hoping for a pair from a local skate shop therefore has a few days in which to find one. After October 12 the brand's own site becomes the other route to the GORE-TEX 480.

New Balance has not said whether more colorways of the GORE-TEX 480 are coming, nor whether the waterproof build will spread to other Numeric models. The first pair is the test of demand at a higher price.

The October 12 website drop is the date when the shoe reaches its widest availability, and it is the next confirmed milestone for the release. No further dates have been announced.