New Balance Just Redesigned One of Its Most Popular New Sneakers

Following the just-released Iridescent and Lunar New Year colorways, New Balance continues to apply new forms to its Y2K-inspired Abzorb 2000 sneaker.

Up next for the Abzorb 2000 is a duo of “Liquid Metal” colorways in Black Metallic (style code U200078C) and Silver Metallic (style code U20005UW). While the new styles feature the same underfoot Abzorb SBS pod cushioning seen on previous 2000 releases, the upcoming looks feature fully revamped uppers with new design details and materials.

Gone are the curvy, swooping lines of the original iteration, which are replaced with jagged high-gloss cutouts that have been compared to another 2000s staple: tribal tattoos. The new upper also features a full-mesh base, and the sharp lines are even applied to New Balance’s signature lateral “N” logo.

In an Instagram post, New Balance designer Yue Wu detailed the creation of the new colorways.

“A fun project I worked on for S1 26,” Wu wrote. “The new upper shared the same tooling as the U2000 originally designed by . The idea was pretty straight forward but a lot of work went behind the scene. Base materials, component dimensions, surface finishings and those tiny corner radius. So many trails went into this thing so we can find the right balance between the design intent, comfort and manufacturability.”

The Abzorb 2000 was debuted by New Balance in June 2025. That month, Lee told FN that references for the model’s bold design included concepts of what people imagined the future would look like during the 2000s.

“We thought the world was going to end, the millennium bug, et cetera, and there’s this freedom within the design space at that period of time where designers of all fields kind of looked at things through this amazingly free and fun lens,” Lee said.

The New Balance Abzorb 2000 Liquid Metal pack will be released Jan. 14 from newbalance.com at 10 a.m. ET and can also be found from select retailers. The styles will retail for $170.