My Puma’s Are House Broken
by Logan Steele
1948 brought in the birth of Puma to the athletic apparel market. Founder, Rudolf Dassler had decided to depart from his brother and partner, Adi Dassler and the little company they created called Adidas. Based out of its headquarters in Herzogenaurach, West Germany, Puma started manufacturing. This gave way to the inception of one of its first successes, the Puma “Atom”. The company began to gain momentum also introducing the “Formstripe” to the market the same year. This same shoe would also achieve recognition almost ten years later and be the first of many exciting athletic shoe innovations from Puma. Shoes such as the “King” and the “Suede”, also known as the “Clyde” would dawn the feet of World Cup and Olympic Athletes and further project its place as a household name.
Now history of Puma aside, I remember these sneakers from the 1980’s. To me it will forever be the official sneaker of Beat Street, “Somebody say Ramone!” I remember being about 8 years old and asking my Mom for a pair of white high-top “First Rounds” with the red stripe, for Christmas. I was convinced that they would single handily, improve my “popping”, “locking” and “body waves”, without any doubt in my mind. I ended up getting a pair of navy blue suede North Stars with the velcro straps but, luckily my “top rock” did not suffer. The old school sneaker made a resurgence in the early 90’s and next to a pair of High top Adidas “Shelltows”, second on my list were a pair of Puma “King”. The puma sneaker has been with us in the forefront ever since and has managed to re-invent itself season after season and gaining further recognition with such visionaries as Alexander McQueen backing the famous feline. Its apparel line is one of the most worn in the world and from my many trips across the pond, its all about the Dassler brothers in Europe. Evidently, I did finally get that pair of “First Rounds”.
Puma on Bloor | 151 Bloor Street West | 416-962-7862
Hours: S/S Mon–Wed 10–7, Thurs – Fri 10–8, Sat 10–6, Sun 11–6
F/W Mon –Fri 10–7, Sat 10–6, Sun 11–6
Puma on Yonge | 2532 Yonge St | (416) 486-7862
Hours: S/S Mon – Wed 10-7, Thurs – Fri 10-8, Sat 10-6, Sun 11-6
F/W Mon – Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5:30
[mappress]
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