- what's good, by b&e
- Posts
- the kids are alright
the kids are alright
New Balance's collab with Amine launches with a video that has restored hundreds of thousands of people's faith in humanity. I spoke with the Director, Iris Kim, about how they pulled that off.
Jack Westerkamp
September 28, 2026
Experiences that genuinely change your worldview happen far less than we realize. It’s hard to pinpoint exact moments that impact people in the same way. Like, for me, going into downtown Chicago for the first time ever was mind-blowing coming from my reclusive suburban home. But for others that isn’t really a big deal.
I’ll never forget seeing the skyline and the millions of people and the noises and smells and thinking “this is EXACTLY like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
But one thing for certain that changes us is the first time you go off to camp or whatever that equivalent might be. Spending a material amount of time away from your parents. You learn about who you are for the first time. You are forced to integrate yourself into a community without the safety net of your parents, and you develop your own taste for the people, places, activities, and things you like.
You can imagine how that could make you a more mature, confident person, and the domino effect it can create in compounding those social skills and confidence and creativity.
Amine, the artist best known for his absolute banger Caroline in March 2016, can thank Outdoor School in Oregon for his first major breakthrough in developing his taste and building his own confidence. Outdoor School is a field science program where 5th/6th graders go off to residential camps to be outdoors for up to 5 nights. The program has been running since 1957.
That feeling, that experience, shaped Amine’s worldview. To the point that it’s the inspiration behind his latest collaboration with New Balance.
To help launch the sneaker, New Balance and Amine created a video to tell the story behind the sneakers, and explain to the world what Outdoor School means to not only Amine, but thousands and thousands of Oregonian children that can call themselves alumni of the program. The video is directed by Iris Kim, who you’re going to hear more from after you watch the video:
I love the way this taps into #HopeCore and the yearning from audiences for positivity and optimistic views for the future of society.