Skate shoes: New Balance Numeric "NM255FRV" is vegan (leather-free)


New Balance Numeric has another new vegan (leather-free) skate shoe: the NM255FRV.

It doesn't seem to currently be available on most New Balance websites though. I only found it on the Swiss New Balance website.

Be careful, because the "NM255" is available in different colourways, and only the colourway for Franky Villani (i.e. NM255FRV) is without leather. Also note that the shoe is mostly canvas, but one small piece on the heel, the big N as well as small pieces next to the tongue are not canvas. So, these seem to be synthetic leather. But I would recommend that you double check this.

What the New Balance website (Switzerland) says (in German and French):

"255 Franky Villani"
[My translation:] "Franky Villani hot dog drawing on the heel"
[My translation:] "Upper: suede/canvas" [!] So, this info appears to be wrong. The non-canvas pieces (mentioned above) seem to be synthetic leather or genuine full-grain leather - they do not look like suede or synthetic suede.

What the New Balance customer service says:

Reply from NBNumeric on instagram (11 May 2021):
"Yes also the Franky 255 is all synthetic materials no animal products. His shoe is made out of a rubber backing canvas." [!]

Video:
You can see Franky Villani and the shoes in action here. Note the text by NB Numeric on YouTube (same text also on instagram and Twitter): "Franky illustrates his point with this one-of-a-kind version of the 255. Animal friendly with all the fixings, rubber backed canvas, Ndurance outsole and upgraded Abzorb insole."


New Balance Numeric 255FRV




Update regarding the glues used by New Balance: 
I received an email by the US-American NB customer service and they wrote: "Many of our products are made with synthetic or plant-based materials that typically do not contain animal materials. We have worked closely with our top adhesive suppliers to ensure that they are not using animal byproducts. Therefore many of our products which are not made of leather, suede, wool, or down are likely free of all animal byproducts, but we have not certified them as such." (24 May 2021)