Celebrity Name: Eladio Carrión
Brand Name: New Balance
Deal Type: Brand Ambassador / Campaign
Announced: April 6, 2026
Impact: Elevates New Balance’s visibility in Latin music and global trap culture while cementing Carrión as a repeat face of performance‑meets-lifestyle footwear
- Grammy-winning Puerto Rican artist Eladio Carrión is the face of New Balance’s Abzorb 2010 in the Neptune Gray/Violet Crush colorway, dropped Easter Sunday, April 6, 2026.
- This marks Carrión’s second campaign with New Balance since becoming the brand’s first-ever reggaeton ambassador in August 2024.
- Fresh off a 32-stop world tour including NYC’s Barclays Center, Carrión is already prepping for another run, wearing the 2010s throughout.
- New Balance continues its music-culture strategy, having previously partnered with Rosalía, Jack Harlow, and Ayra Starr.
Eladio Carrión is lacing up once again with New Balance. The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican Latin trap star is the face of the brand’s Abzorb 2010 lifestyle sneaker in its new Neptune Gray/Violet Crush colorway, dropped on Easter Sunday, April 6.
This is Carrión’s second campaign since becoming New Balance’s first-ever reggaeton ambassador in August 2024, a deal he announced on Complex Sneaker Shopping, where he famously dropped nearly $48,000 on New Balance kicks.
He previously fronted the brand’s 9060 via Shoe Palace/DTLR and headlined the NB 1000 “Dark Ice Wine” campaign alongside Foot Locker. Away from New Balance, Carrión also holds brand deals with Google Pixel and MLB The Show.
Fresh off a monster 32-stop world tour, including a headline stop at NYC’s Barclays Center, that wrapped in Mexico City in February 2026, Carrión is already gearing up for yet another run.
“I’ve been rocking it with everything on tour,” he said of the Abzorb 2010, adding that he expects fans at his upcoming shows to be wearing them too. Activations tied to the campaign in Puerto Rico and Latin America are also in the works.
For New Balance, the move is a continuation of its music-first marketing strategy. The brand has built one of the most culturally credible rosters in sneakers, which includes Rosalía who recently fronted a bold, cinematic campaign for the NB 204L, as well as Jack Harlow and Ayra Starr.
Carrión even noted he wishes longtime friend Bad Bunny was on the team, though El Conejo is busy with his own Adidas partnership.
With two campaigns deep, a growing sneaker catalog, and a solo collab widely anticipated, this partnership looks like it’s just warming up.
Takeaways
New Balance isn’t just selling sneakers, it’s buying into cultural credibility. By building a roster that now stretches from Latin trap to Spanish avant-pop to Afrobeats, the brand is executing one of the smartest music-driven marketing plays in footwear right now.
Eladio Carrión was a natural fit from the start: a genuine, years-long fan of the brand before any contract was ever signed. That authenticity shows.
And with Carrión’s tours bringing him in front of massive Latin audiences globally, New Balance is getting in front of a demographic that’s spending big on lifestyle sneakers. A full signature collab seems like a “when,” not an “if.”
Will Eladio Carrión become the long-term face of New Balance’s lifestyle line, similar to how other artists anchor rival brands? Will activations in Puerto Rico and Latin America help New Balance crack new markets it hasn’t fully tapped yet?
