Puma Iconic Sneakers
- Posted by: angeli.krohmal
The legendary sports equipment company has been around for almost a century. The shoes of this brand are one of the most comfortable in the world and are associated with comfort, style and great achievements. We have collected incredible models developed in different years.
Sport plays a significant role in a person's life. We all want to look beautiful, be healthy and feel good. And for effective and correct sports activities, you need the right quality shoes. In the 21st century you can find a lot of brands ready to provide us with excellent sneakers and today we will talk about a legendary brand with a rich history. How Puma appeared and why today the brand is famous not only as a sponsor of sports achievements, but also as a trendsetter?
The Puma brand did not emerge according to a planned scenario. It was the result of a family conflict that was never resolved, although it brought enormous benefits to the world. In 1948, after a quarrel with his brother Rudolf Dassler decided not to give up the idea of sports business and they shared then joint production empire Dassler. History is silent about what became a stumbling block for the brothers, who successfully developed a common business. There is an opinion that the reason for this was the tense post-war situation and the difference in political views. During the war years each of the brothers had his own experience of communication and cooperation with the invaders, which influenced their perception of the situation and ways of further development. The war ended after a few years, but the Dassler dynasty split up and continued on separate paths, competing to this day.
For the public, the formation of two separate brands was only a positive thing - more jobs were created, and more sportswear and footwear became available on the market. The Dassler family lived in a tiny German town and was almost the main employer, so the expansion of production, although separated, was a good thing. Already having experience of cooperation with various athletes both companies, Adidas and Puma, were constantly pulling attention to themselves, in an effort to win the right to shoe the best athletes, and the residents of the city it influenced.
Puma had a great start, literally in the year of opening the company presented Puma Atom - special sneakers for soccer with spikes on the sole. They immediately began to be used by players of the West German national team and gave them high praise. Despite the huge popularity of soccer in those years, the brand expanded and provided its products to representatives of other sports - basketball players, tennis players and even racers.
The brand is famous for innovations in the production of shoes. So, they were the first to offer an alternative to laces and released a model of sneakers on Velcro. Puma came up with a new way to connect the sole and upper part of the sneakers - vulcanization helped in this. In general, the brand can be considered one of the flagships in the latest developments for sports shoes and then clothing.
Already in the mid 50's the brand became a supplier of equipment for the U.S. Olympic team. At the same time, a German runner set a world record in the 100-meter dash.
In the 60's, the real breakthrough for the company was the selection of their shoes by soccer legend Pele. In 1962 his team won the gold medal and this event was broadcasted all over the world. The Olympic Games in Tokyo were also conquered by athletes equipped by Puma. Many great players were presented with the world's most important awards in that decade. In 1967, the No. 1 Logo was unveiled, which has become a significant Puma hallmark to this day.
The 70s also saw unprecedented success. Another legendary appearance of Pele on the field in Puma sneakers saw the whole world, although according to some reports because of the confrontation between Puma and Adidas, it was first decided not to sponsor the most outstanding footballer of the century. This decision acquired the name "Pele's Pact" and was broken.
Puma began to produce clothes for athletes. Now all the stars of soccer and other sports were head-to-toe in Puma.
In 1973 the brand announced the Puma Clyde model in honor of the famous basketball player Walter Fraser, who had long been the advertising face of the sports brand. This model was one of the first to be used in everyday life, not for sports. Puma Clyde is still popular in streetstyle wearing.
A resonant event was the cooperation of the Dutch soccer team, former adherents of Puma, with Adidas. The captain of the team went on the field equipped with both brands at the same time.
At the end of 70-ies Puma gained huge popularity among tennis players, for several years models of Puma sneakers with recognizable Formstrip design became associated with this sport. At the same time they were hit by the first global crisis: a powerful competitor appeared on the market, quickly gaining momentum and taking away from Puma's popularity - the company Nike was founded.
The next decade saw the next generation of management and new developments: Armin Dassler introduced the innovative new Duoflex platform with notches for greater flexibility and cushioning. Soccer players immediately appreciated the innovation and tried it out in matches. Another Trinomic system was developed for runners - the new outsole included small pads with air throughout and guaranteed flexibility and high resistance to deformation. A whole collection was developed with this sole, and some models are still in production today.
The 80's were marked by a technological breakthrough - the development and development of computers were not ignored in the Puma brand. Armin Dassler believed that analyzing data on the state of athletes with the help of computer technology will give a real breakthrough.
At the same time, Puma was becoming a joint-stock company, as the closed family way of running such a business was gradually losing effectiveness.
This progression entered the 90's as well, at the same time sports were gaining interest and smoothly moved from courts and stadiums just to the streets. There was also mixing with other phenomena, including fashion. But there were also difficulties in finance and economics - the company faced a crisis, although it continued to develop new products. One of these developments were sneakers "with laces without laces" Disc. It's all about a hidden system of threads on the inside of the sneakers. The model was tried out by some athletes in practice, and later became popular in everyday use.
Much of the company's rise was thanks to Jochen Zeitz, a new CEO with great ambition and energy. It was this young professional who understood the direction in which to move.
Sport and fashion
In the early 90s, the first seemingly paradoxical collaboration emerged - Puma teamed up with Jil Sander, a very popular brand in those years. The brands created a model of exclusive sneakers, and then collaborated with tennis star Serena Williams, creating a whole collection for her.
However, the sports brand strategy paid off - the more sports style entered people's daily lives, the more profits increased. This was helped by advertising campaigns with people like Serena, as well as those involved in high fashion.
By collaborating with fashion designers, the brand was able to create different collections of clothing and shoes, segmenting consumers.
In the new millennium, the sports brand has further strengthened its collaboration with the fashion industry and show business. This "humanization" of the brand with the help of famous faces has attracted an impressive percentage of consumers who follow their idol, trusting his taste.
In 2005 Puma began to cooperate with Alexander McQueen, which gave very bright results in the form of conceptual models of sneakers and the Puma Thunder model which is very popular now.
In 2006, the World Cup was won by the Italian team, which was equipped in Puma, which was proof that the brand is primarily for professionals in the world of sports.
In the 2010s, the brand made a lot of innovative developments and improvements, such as Disc becoming automatic, CELL technology being used again, and the development of XETIC material.
But even more impressive was the brand's close cooperation with an increasing number of celebrities and fashion brands.
Thus Puma collaborated with the fashion house Balmain and Karl Lagerfeld himself. Cara Delevingne, The Weeknd, Selena Gomez can often be seen in the brand's advertising campaigns. And the Barbadian star and entrepreneur Rihanna became one of the creative directors of the company, successfully developing entire collections of Puma X Fenty.
Despite the rather unpleasant reason of its origin and inevitable crises throughout the history of existence, the Puma brand embodies success in its purest form, the immense desire to reach new heights and the desire to introduce the beautiful and modern in its creations.
 Image courtesy of puma.com |
Regardless of your occupation, commitment to a sporty lifestyle or social role, Puma sneakers are a guarantee of your successful, safe and stylish movement through life.