Standing for Something More
It was 1968 when PUMA waded into streetwear culture with the Suede, a “fuzzy cousin” to its popular hoops shoe, the Basket. The PUMA Suede exploded onto the scene when the world saw them on the podium for an iconic moment — a raised fist to stand for racial equality — during that year’s Mexico City games.
But while the shoe became known for something bigger than sports, its street cred got an even bigger boost from sports itself when PUMA gave Walt “Clyde” Frazier his own signature shoe. It was a high-style version of the PUMA Suede that matched Frazier’s off-court flair. He was the first modern basketball player to get his own shoe, and his creative direction drew a new kind of attention to athletically inspired footwear.
It wasn’t just basketball fans who gravitated to the PUMA Suede. In 1973, the advent of breakbeats — which would evolve into rap — inspired a new way to move. The Suede, with its thick outsoles, reliable grip, and flexible upper, lent itself well to breakdancing.
A New Era of Air
With the brand’s street-inspired style established among an emerging hip-hop scene, a new crew began taking notice. As skateboarding took hold of teens’ imaginations through the 1980s and into the ’90s, skaters fell in love with the PUMA Suede for much the same reason as the breakdancers before them: thick outsoles, reliable grip, and a durable but flexible upper.
And no matter who was wearing them, a growing number of influential artists and fashion icons began collaborating with PUMA to put a unique spin on the storied sneaker.
But the PUMA Suede never lost its soul. The rubber midsole/outsole gives you a solid foundation and reliable grip. The suede upper gives you a heavily textured look you can feel, along with the familiar swooping PUMA brand mark and a small “PUMA” wordmark near the laces. The upper often features an allover color, but that swooping PUMA branding offers ample colorblocking opportunities, which PUMA never neglects.
The Suede New Classic modernizes the style with a forefoot band that features the PUMA cat logo and shifts the “PUMA” wordmark to the quarterpanel. Check out these and other PUMA footwear favorites at Foot Locker today.
