Puma

Pretty in Suede

During the 1968 Summer Olympics, athlete Tommie Smith was the first person to ever publicly wear the PUMA Suede. While traditional sneakers used a canvas or leather upper in their construction, the suede brought something new to the table. According to Rudolf Dassler the usage of suede would create more flexibility in the shoe. At the beginning of the 70s PUMA offered NBA player Walter Frazier the opportunity to create his own PUMA Suede. Thanks to Frazier the shoe quickly became a street staple. But it wasn’t until the 80s and 90s when the Suede became a streetwear icon. In the 80s b-boys and b-girls could be found wearing the PUMA from head to toe and in the 90s skaters started to adapt the Suedes as staple sneakers. The following decades PUMA collaborated with various designers and artist such as Alexander McQueen and Rihanna to redesign the classic Suede silhouette.