Kichijoji is a short train ride west of Shinjuku, and the Apartment sits there as the kind of select shop that stocks East Coast America for Tokyo. On October 31, 2026 it releases its own New Balance 2010 in a colourway named after the kingfisher, priced at ¥29,920 with tax in Japan. The bird is the whole story: teal body, blue wings, the orange flash underneath. New Balance has rarely let a partner go this loud on a GORE-TEX runner.
For Indian buyers the 2010 is barely a known shape. The 2002R and 1906R did the heavy lifting here through 2024 and 2025, and the 2010 is the newer, chunkier cousin most people have only seen on Japanese feeds. This pair is the one that will put it on your radar. Our own stock tells the same story: the 2002R and 1906R move, and a 2010 has never once been on the wall.
The Apartment and New Balance, Round Three
The shop has form. Per UP TO DATE Tokyo, the Apartment's first New Balance was the ML801GTX "Toucan" in 2020, another bird, another GORE-TEX shoe. JustFreshKicks adds the 810 collaboration, which "drew on Yankees and Mets colors," baseball being very much the Apartment's lane. So the Kingfisher is not a one-off. It is the third chapter of a shop telling the same two stories, birds and ball clubs, on New Balance's weatherproof silhouettes.
The style code is U2010376, listed by both Sneaker Bar Detroit and UP TO DATE Tokyo. Japanese sizing runs 23.0 to 30.0 cm in D width, which is roughly UK 4.5 to UK 11.5, so the big-foot crowd is covered for once.
The Build: GORE-TEX, ABZORB and an Orange Shank
Sneaker Bar Detroit's description is worth quoting whole: "Blue suede overlays sit above a teal base" with white sections mixed into the upper, while "the orange midfoot shank and dark navy ABZORB cushioning units carry the palette down to the sole." The upper is the waterproof GORE-TEX version of the 2010, which JustFreshKicks confirms, so this is a shoe you can wear into a Mumbai July rather than hide from it.
That shank is the detail. On most 2010s it is a grey plastic afterthought. Here it is the kingfisher's belly, orange against navy, and it is the first thing anyone will notice when you sit cross-legged on a cafe floor.
Why Now, and Why It Matters Beyond Tokyo
Look at who New Balance has worked with this year. Kith on the 2011. JJJJound on the 1890. Aimé Leon Dore on the 1300. Those shops sell restraint, and they sell a lot of it. The Apartment sells colour. A teal-and-orange GORE-TEX runner out of a Kichijoji boutique is a reminder that the brand's most interesting partners are still the small ones, the shops with one obsession and a regular who buys every drop. If the Kingfisher sells through on October 31, expect more regional stores to get a 2010 of their own, and expect at least one of them to be louder than this.
Getting One to India
There is no Indian release. UP TO DATE Tokyo lists the Apartment's own GREEN store in Kichijoji (with an in-store presale on launch day), the Apartment online store and Mercari. Sneaker Bar Detroit says the pair also reaches "retail partners," and US pricing was still unannounced as of October 28, which means any dollar figure you see quoted this week is a guess.
So the maths is yen maths. At the open.er-api.com rate on October 28, 2026 (₹95.20 per dollar, ₹0.603 per yen), ¥29,920 is about ₹18,040. Footwear under HSN 6403 then carries 20% basic customs duty, an agriculture cess worth 4% of CIF, a 10% social welfare surcharge on those, and 18% IGST on the total, per the ICEGATE-based calculator at EximPe (rates as at May 13, 2026): 49.15% all in, or roughly ₹26,900 landed before the courier's fee. The same page notes Japan-origin goods can claim 0% basic duty under the trade agreement subject to rules of origin, but a proxy-forwarded sneaker parcel will not come with the certificate that needs, so plan on the full stack.
Put that against what the brand costs here today. A New Balance 2002R "Dream State" is ₹10,500 on our shelf, and the Salehe Bembury New Balance 1000 is ₹15,995. The Kingfisher at ₹26,900 is paying more than double a 2002R for GORE-TEX, a Tokyo shop's name and a colourway you will not see on another pair in Bengaluru. Whether that is worth it depends on how much you value the last point.
Resale? There is none to report. The shoe has not released, and the only listings are pre-orders on Japanese marketplaces, so a premium quoted this week is a hope, not a price. Give it a fortnight after October 31 and then look.
Our Verdict
Buy it if you already own a 2010 and know the fit, or if you have a Japan trip in November and can walk into Kichijoji. Skip the proxy route unless you are certain about sizing, because a ₹27,000 shoe you cannot return is a bad way to discover the fit is wrong.
A note on fit before you commit. Japanese D width is the standard men's width, and the sizes run 23.0 to 30.0 cm, which is UP TO DATE Tokyo's figure, not ours. Measure your foot in centimetres against a 2002R you already own rather than guessing a UK number off a chart. GORE-TEX uppers do not give the way plain mesh does, so there is no breaking this one in.
The Toucan came and went quietly outside Japan. This one will not. Pair it with navy chinos or washed black denim and let the orange shank do the talking.
New Balance is a brand we keep restocking. The 2010 is the next shape we want on the wall, and this is the pair that made us want it. Until a 2010 lands here, the 2002R and 1906R in our New Balance stock are the closest thing to it.
Read next: how the Kith New Balance 2011 set up the brand's 2026 collab year, and our take on the 992 Made in USA "Shadow Grey" if you prefer your New Balance quiet.
