The first thing my eye went to was right at the bottom: a faint pink wash along the edge of the sole, so soft you only catch it when the light hits right. New Balance calls that undertone “ice wine” somewhere, and that’s me done — I’m not objective the second there’s any pink involved. The funny part is that the rest of the New Balance 9060 “Grey Matter” (U9060GM) is the complete opposite of loud. That one thin line underneath is what gives an otherwise very calm shoe a bit of personality.
Five shades of grey on one shoe
The upper is almost entirely grey, but not one flat colour. Light grey suede runs over the toe and heel, a cooler grey mesh sits in between and lets some air through, and the big N on the side is done in a metallic silver-grey that catches the light without shouting. The lacing runs through a grey toggle system — handy when you want them on and off quickly — and there’s a small loop at the heel to pull them up. Below all of that sits the classic 9060 sole: thick, layered, in an off-white to cream, with a strip of reflective silver at the transition. It’s a lot of shoe, but all that grey makes the whole thing read calmer than the silhouette suggests.
Under almost anything, and that’s the point
A shoe this neutral is one you don’t have to think about in the morning. Grey with cream slots under jeans, under something black, under something wide in sand or olive — it doesn’t argue with what you’re already wearing. Whether you like the height and the volume of the 9060 is down to taste: it’s firmly a chunky silhouette, not a slim retro runner. But if you want something that looks comfortable and still put-together, this colourway does very little wrong. It’s a unisex model too, so it doesn’t matter who ends up wearing it. The fit runs a touch roomy, worth keeping in mind if you’re between two sizes.
On Solezilla.com we’re tracking eleven active listings on this pair today, and almost all of them are in euros. The bottom sits around 145 euros at GOAT, just under the original 150-euro price, with StockX near 183 euros and Collect District and Sneaker Ask between 229 and 246 euros. From there it climbs steeply: Stadium Goods and Farfetch run into the 360–443 euro range, and KeepItSneaker tops it off far above the rest. For a colourway that’s still around, that’s a wide gap. In pounds there’s a single Stadium Goods UK listing at about £197, and in dollars one Stadium Goods US listing near $264. If you’re shopping from the UK or US, factor in shipping and import before you lock onto any euro number below.
The hype hasn’t cooled: the Hypescore sits at 80, which is ATOMIC, the top phase on our scale. Before you click anywhere, check the prices per size and per shop on the Grey Matter page, and find the other colourways on the New Balance 9060 page while you’re there. Then tell us where you land in Grail or Bail.