SoleGRIND
I’ll be honest. When Salehe Bembury first linked up with New Balance, I wasn’t sure how long the hype would last. Collaborations come and go. But the guy keeps swinging for the fences every single time. The Heat Be Hot Magma colorway of the 1906R is proof that he’s not slowing down.
Let me set the scene. The 1906R is a retro tech runner that originally dropped back in 2009. New Balance remastered it in 2022, and Bembury grabbed it as one of his signature canvases. The thing looks like it was beamed in from a Y2K design lab. Aggressive lines, layered materials, that chunky-but-streamlined profile that sneakerheads either love or hate. I love it.
The Magma colorway is part of the two-shoe Heat Be Hot Pack. The other half is the Lava, which goes heavy on yellow and orange with red accents. Both are volcanic in theme. But the Magma is the one that makes people stop on the street.
The upper uses a dual-layer gradient mesh that fades from blazing solar orange at the toe into searing crimson red along the heel. It genuinely looks like molten lava cooling on the side of a volcano. The metallic silver cage overlays wrap around the shoe like an industrial exoskeleton, giving it that tech-aesthetic Bembury is known for. Then you get these bold plum-purple hits on the N-Lock logos and outsole tread that tie the whole thing together. It shouldn’t work. Orange and red and purple and silver? But it does. It really does.
Under the hood, this thing is loaded. Full-length N-ergy cushioning in the crash pad. ACTEVA LITE midsole foam. ABZORB SBS pod in the heel. The Stability Web arch bridge keeps your foot from collapsing on long walks. I wore these for a full day of running around the city and my feet felt fine at the end. The open-cell mesh breathes like crazy too. No swamp foot.
The SKU is M1906RSE if you’re hunting for it. Retail was set at $170, which honestly feels reasonable for a designer collab on a loaded tech runner. Good luck finding them at retail though. The initial drop was January 2024 through New Balance and select tier-0 stockists. They sold through fast. Resale is where most pairs live now.
Stadium Goods has them listed around $274. Farfetch is asking $349. KicksCrew also carries them. The market has settled a bit since the initial frenzy, but the Magma colorway still commands a premium over the Lava. I think that’s because the gradient is just more visually striking. The Lava is beautiful too, don’t get me wrong. But the Magma hits different.
One thing I appreciate about Bembury’s approach with New Balance is that he doesn’t just slap his name on a shoe. The fingerprint motif on the insole. The organic, nature-inspired color palettes. The way the N-Lock system integrates with the lacing for actual functional midfoot lockdown. This is thoughtful design work, not a marketing exercise.
Sizing runs true to size for standard feet. If you have wide feet, you might want to go up a half size because that silver cage can press on the sides. The mesh upper has some give but the synthetic overlays are rigid. Arch support is generous, almost aggressively so. The 1906R shares the same midsole and outsole tooling as the 2002R, so if you’ve worn that model, the fit will feel familiar.
The outsole uses Ndurance rubber, which is New Balance’s high-durability compound. The tread pattern is aggressive enough for outdoor wear but doesn’t pick up rocks and debris like some trail runners. I’ve been wearing mine on pavement and they’re holding up well. No premature wear on the heel crash pad, which is where I usually kill sneakers first.
Style-wise, the Magma is a statement shoe. You can’t just throw these on with anything. They demand to be the focal point. I pair mine with black techwear pants or washed olive cargos and let the shoes do the talking. Clean white tees, maybe a grey hoodie. That’s it. The gradient is loud enough that anything more complex looks like you’re trying too hard.
What really gets me about this shoe is how it ages. The gradient mesh actually looks better after some wear. The colors deepen. The silver cage picks up slight scuffs that give it character. These aren’t shelf queens. They’re daily drivers that earn their patina.
If you’re on the fence about grabbing a pair on resale, my advice is to pull the trigger. The Heat Be Hot Pack was a limited drop. Bembury’s New Balance collabs tend to appreciate over time, especially the more visually distinctive colorways. The Magma is about as distinctive as it gets.
The 1906R silhouette continues to be one of the most exciting platforms in footwear right now. New Balance keeps feeding it with fresh colorways and collaborations. But the Salehe Bembury Magma remains a standout. It’s the kind of shoe that makes you remember why you got into sneakers in the first place.
