Puma Suede

About

When Puma introduced the Suede in 1968, it was genuinely revolutionary: suede was a luxury material, and virtually all athletic shoes of the era were built from canvas with uniform designs. Designed by Heiko Desens, the Puma Suede broke that mould and gave athletes a shoe with a distinctive premium texture. The shoe's most significant early moment came at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, when US sprinter Tommie Smith wore the Pumas on the podium during his now-iconic protest against racism — one of the most photographed moments in sports history. That association gave the silhouette an immediate cultural weight beyond athletics. The Puma Suede's second great cultural chapter came in the 1980s when it became the shoe of New York's b-boy breakdancing scene. Its low profile and suede durability made it ideal for floor work, and it spread through hip-hop communities globally. The shoe has since been reimagined by collaborators across music, fashion, and sport while retaining its original clean low-top shape.