At Paris Fashion Week on Sunday, Balenciaga and German sportswear giant Puma unveiled their first collaboration: a win for sneaker and high fashion heads alike. Interspersed throughout the brand’s otherwise formal FW25 collection was a host of sportswear garments featuring the Puma logo, from skinny tracksuits to bomber jackets and zip-up hoodies, as well as a leather jacket, puffer vest and even a suede hooded bathrobe (who needs a fluffy hotel robe when you have a suede one? It’s giving luxury fr.) Meanwhile, some of the models wore Balenciaga medals around their necks.
But the highlight of the collection (and the item that will likely garner the most hype) was the trainers: a reimagining of Puma’s OG speedcat reconstructed and rendered in white, navy blue and black colourways. The creps are pre-distressed: the panel foam strip is deconstructed, while the suede uppers have been aged. But despite seeing the marriage of two household name brands, the shoes only feature subtle branding in the form of the PUMA embroidery on the toe box and minimal co-branded detailing between the panel stripe and eyelets. (Basically, they don't need to flex.)
The collection’s accessories also went hard, via caps with cutout visors, socks, gloves, oversized goggles and the Marché Bag tote, translated into a Dyneema—the world’s strongest fibre —shopping bag. (Carrying the Tesco shop in a Balenciaga might be moving a bit mad, but it’s good to know you could.)
The collab will likely help Puma tap into the luxury and athleisure markets while catching the attention of sneaker heads, a key demographic for Balenciaga as the brand hasn’t quite managed to match the popularity of the Triple S’s which were ubiquitous a few years ago.
Images via Balenciaga©
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