In March, Scarlett Johansson turned up to work in a New York Giants hoodie, a long grey wool coat, slim blue jeans and a pair of sneakers that cost less than dinner for four. The shoes were New Balance 574s in grey and white. Within a week, searches for Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers had spawned an entire cottage industry of shopping posts — nearly all of them calling the shoe “podiatrist-approved,” and not one of them naming an actual podiatrist.
We’re not going to do that. Here’s what’s genuinely true about the shoe, starting with the part where it was originally New Balance’s cheap option.
1. It Was a Film Set, Not a Red Carpet
The photographs came from the New York set of The Exorcist reboot in March 2026, where Johansson is starring. She wasn’t styled for a premiere. She was dressed for fourteen hours of standing on a cold pavement.
That context matters more than the shopping coverage let on. The Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers sighting isn’t a fashion endorsement — it’s a working actor reaching for the most comfortable shoe she owns on a day when nobody was supposed to be looking. Which is, as it happens, the highest compliment a sneaker can be paid.
2. The 574 Was New Balance’s Budget Shoe
Here’s the fact that reframes the whole story.
New Balance’s 500 series was its trail line — suede, mesh, aggressive outsoles, built for rough ground. The 575 landed in 1986, the 576 in 1988, the 577 in 1989. They sold well, and New Balance wanted a version for people who couldn’t afford them.
So in 1988, designer Steven Smith built one out of spare parts. He took a stripped-down upper from the 576 and bolted it onto a sole borrowed from the 577 — a shoe that hadn’t even been released yet. The result was cheaper, plainer and less special than either of the models it was cannibalised from.
That shoe was the 574. It went on to become the most recognisable object New Balance has ever made: the shoe people picture when they picture the brand.
A parts-bin cost-cutting exercise from 1988 is now the off-duty uniform of people who can afford literally anything. That’s the story. Not the affiliate links.
3. “Podiatrist-Approved” Means Nothing. ENCAP Means Something.
Now to the claim every shopping site repeats.
Ignore it. What’s actually inside the shoe is more interesting, and far more useful.
The 574 runs ENCAP — short for “encapsulated.” A soft EVA foam core, wrapped in a firm polyurethane rim, sitting under the heel, buried inside the midsole where you will never see it. The soft core absorbs the impact; the hard rim stops your heel rolling. Dual-density stability, engineered in 1988, still used across New Balance shoes today.
Then there’s the shape. In an era when running shoes were narrow, slipper-ish things, Smith made the 574 deliberately wide. That’s why it became the shoe for people with broad feet — and why it feels roomy on everyone else.
That’s a real, describable reason the shoe is comfortable. The Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers do not need a phantom podiatrist vouching for them.
4. The Lab Numbers, and What They Actually Say
The Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers are genuinely supportive. They are not a modern performance shoe — and the honest version of that is more useful than the marketing one.
Independent lab teardowns by RunRepeat put figures on it:
| Measure | Result | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Shock absorption | 92 SA | Above average — protective on long days standing |
| Energy return | 43% | Below average — flat and stable, not bouncy |
| Forefoot width | 114.3 mm | Very wide — a full centimetre wider than a Reebok Classic Leather |
| Heel width | 80.2 mm | Wide, planted base |
| Heel counter stiffness | 3 / 5 | Structured, not rigid |
Read that table properly and the truth falls out: the 574 is a standing shoe, not a running shoe. It soaks up impact and holds you steady on a wide, planted base. What it does not do is spring you forward — the foam is firm, it’s old, and it hasn’t fundamentally changed in decades.
For twenty thousand steps across a film set, that’s exactly right. For a 10K, buy something else.
5. It Was Designed With Car Parts and BMX Tyres
Steven Smith is one of the most quietly influential designers in sneaker history, and the 574 is the clearest evidence why.
He pulled from automotive engineering, working a sway-bar principle into the structure beneath the eyestays to control lateral movement. And the outsole tread was drawn from BMX tyres — because a bike tyre had already solved the problem of gripping loose ground.
None of it is visible. All of it works. That’s the 574 in a sentence — and every bit of it was engineered decades before anyone thought to type “Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers” into Google.
6. Before the Celebrities, There Was Hip-Hop
This is the part the shopping posts will never tell you, and it’s the part that actually explains the shoe’s standing.
The 574 spent its early years as an honest running shoe, then got adopted in the mid-90s by New York. Phife Dawg wore them. Raekwon wore them — he’s spoken about being gifted a pair at fourteen and still remembering it decades later. Mos Def wore them.
That credibility wasn’t manufactured in 2026 by a paparazzi lens outside a film set. It was built thirty years ago in Queens and Staten Island, by people who bought the shoe because it was good and it was cheap. Everything since — the collabs, the dad-shoe boom, the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers headlines — is interest paid on that principal.
Johansson didn’t make the 574 cool. She confirmed it was still working.
7. Scarlett Johansson New Balance Sneakers: Sizing, Price and What to Buy
Sizing. If you’re buying the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers, the honest answer depends on your foot. Large-scale wearer data puts the 574 true to size for most people. But the suede-and-mesh upper has very little give, so if your feet are wide, go half a size up — or better, use New Balance’s genuine width fittings, which are rarer and far more useful than a half-size fudge.
Price. The 574 sits around $90. That has always been the point of it. It is, and always was, the sensible shoe.
Colourway. Johansson’s were grey and white, and grey is no accident. Grey is the New Balance colour, the one the brand built an identity on. It hides scuffs in a way white never will, and it goes with everything. If you buy one 574, buy the grey.
If you want the look, not the shoe. The New Balance 327 is sleeker and more fashion-forward. The 9060 is the chunkier, contemporary read. Neither is a 574, and neither has thirty-eight years of receipts.
How to Style the Scarlett Johansson New Balance Sneakers
What made the outfit work wasn’t the shoes on their own — it was the contrast around them.
She ran slim-fit jeans: not skinny, not baggy. That’s the load-bearing choice. A 574 is a wide, bulky shoe, and a slim leg gives it room to read as deliberate rather than accidental. Over the top, a hoodie — a battered NY Giants one — and then, crucially, a long grey wool coat.
That’s the whole formula, and it comes straight from the dad-shoe playbook: pair a scruffy, technical, unglamorous shoe with one genuinely grown-up tailored piece. The coat does the elevating. The sneakers do the honesty. Grey on grey ties it together without anyone having to try.
Copy that structure and the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers formula works on almost anyone.
The Real Story Here
A shoe designed in 1988 to be New Balance’s affordable option — assembled from the offcuts of two better shoes — is now what a Hollywood lead reaches for when she has to be on her feet all day and nobody is meant to be watching.
The Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers story isn’t a shopping story at all. It’s a design story, and the 574 has been quietly winning it since the year it launched.
Buy the grey ones.
More about Scarlett Johansson New Balance Sneakers
What are the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers?
The Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers everyone is searching for are the 574, in a grey-and-white colourway. She was photographed in them on the New York set of The Exorcist in March 2026, worn with slim jeans, a New York Giants hoodie and a long grey wool coat.
How much are the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers?
Around $90, depending on colourway and retailer. The 574 has been New Balance’s value silhouette since 1988 — it was designed from the start to be the affordable one.
Are the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers really podiatrist-approved?
That phrase circulates constantly in celebrity shopping coverage but is rarely, if ever, attributed to a named podiatrist. What is verifiable: the 574 uses ENCAP dual-density construction — a soft EVA core inside a firm polyurethane rim — on an unusually wide, stable base, and it tests above average for shock absorption. If you have specific foot or joint concerns, ask an actual podiatrist rather than a shopping post.
Do the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers run small?
Most wearers find the 574 true to size. The suede-and-mesh upper doesn’t stretch much, so if your feet are wide, size up half — or better, use New Balance’s genuine width fittings.
Are the Scarlett Johansson New Balance sneakers good for walking?
Yes — it’s their strongest use case. High shock absorption and a very wide, stable platform suit long days standing and walking. They are not built for running: energy return is low and the ride is deliberately flat.
When did the New Balance 574 come out?
1988, designed by Steven Smith as a cheaper alternative to the 576 — a stripped-back 576 upper on a sole taken from the then-unreleased 577.
