Action Bronson Teases New Balance 1890 Planet Frog Collab for Album Launch
Action Bronson’s Planet Frog 1890 hit at $210 on May 8, a loud New Balance drop tied to his eighth album and packed with apparel and Oakley eyewear.
Action Bronson’s New Balance 1890 Planet Frog arrived as a riot of golden brown mesh, gray suede, orange, green, blue, aqua, purple and red, the kind of deliberately clashing palette that turns a sneaker release into a headline. The pair went on sale May 8 for $210, right alongside the rollout for Bronson’s eighth album, and it immediately looked less like a lone shoe drop than another chapter in his increasingly visual world-building.
The shoe itself is built to be noticed. New Balance dressed the 1890 in a golden brown mesh base with gray suede overlays, then punched it with an orange heel counter, green midsole, blue accents, a perforated brown leather tongue, two-tone aqua laces and extra purple and red hits. That busy treatment suits Bronson, whose sneaker projects have always favored personality over restraint. He previewed the shoe on Instagram before deleting the teaser, a move that only sharpened the attention around the release.
Bronson’s run with New Balance has become its own style story. His first collaboration was the 990v6 Baklava in 2023, which dropped March 17 through SpecializinginLife and then March 24 through New Balance for $220. He followed with the 1906R Scorpius in 2024, and the Planet Frog 1890 extends that partnership into a new silhouette that feels built for rollout season. Bronson has said his mother introduced him to New Balance because she valued comfort, and he tied the Baklava name to his nickname, his social handle and his Albanian heritage, giving the partnership a personal core that goes well beyond product placement.
The 1890 is a new model, but it reaches deep into New Balance history. The silhouette borrows design cues from the archival 890v2 and uses tooling from the original New Balance 2002, with ABZORB cushioning underfoot. New Balance has already scheduled a separate Grey Days ABZORB 1890 launch for May 22 at $180, which makes the Planet Frog release feel even more strategic: Bronson’s color-saturated version lands first, then the brand’s cleaner Grey Days push follows behind it.
That sequence is exactly why the collaboration matters. WWD said the Planet Frog capsule included waterproof jackets, hoodies, hats, T-shirts and Oakley eyewear, widening the drop into a full Bronson wardrobe rather than a single sneaker moment. Previous Action Bronson x New Balance 1890 pairs were priced at $200, so the $210 Planet Frog sits just above that benchmark, a small premium for a shoe that functions as album merch, streetwear object and collector bait all at once. In Bronson’s hands, the sneaker launch is no longer a side note to the music. It is part of the album campaign itself.
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