After the re-release of the Mostro, and the major return of the Speedcat last year, Puma’s dipped back into its rich archives and digged out the H-Street. The silhouette, which dropped this weekend, is inspired by the Harambee – a late ’90s lightweight low-profile running sneaker.
“Archive for us is very important, we have a very rich history and heritage, and we have a very strong archive, and especially the late 90s and early 2000s where the Speedcat and Mostros came from, we have shoes and designs that are embedded in the current zeitgeist. It’s timeless designs,” Puma’s head of select Gregor Abenstein told us.
And that’s where the H-Street comes in. The H-Street is not the highest performance technology shoe, “that’s not the intention of the shoe,” Abenstein said. “We stayed true to the shoe from 22 years ago, when it comes to aesthetics. We made some tweaks here and there which don’t change the aesthetic but just add to the comfort: we have added some reinforcement to make it more comfortable, we have slightly enlarged the width of the shoe, the sock liner is also a moulded sock liner. But from a look and feel perspective we wanted to stay true to the original. It’s not the highest technology – it’s a super light, easy, low-profile shoe to wear.”
“What Puma’s really good at doing with its retros is noticing the flaws from the 2000s and reworking them to keep up with today’s function,” Inside Tag commented at the H-Street launch in Seoul. The brand is tapped in and just gets that its OG silhouettes will resonate with the current culture – think the Mostros and the Speedcats, which in just one year have taken over the zeitgeist. Now it’s H-Street’s turn.
The first drop stays true to its original colourway –“Fizzy Green” (a bratty neon) – as well as black and “Frosted Ivory“, all featuring the retro metallic silver details of the original silhouette, but Puma’s got a lot more to come. “We’re very much relying on our archives for our first season, but for the next season we’re trying to be more open in terms of the colours and materials,” Abenstein said.
You can cop the H-Street at puma.com
Featured images Puma©
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