LUXURY SNEAKERS!

Puma’s collaboration with Alexander McQueen is not the first time the big cat has danced with a high fashion partner. In past years they have tangoed with Philippe Starck, Neil Barrett, Alexander van Slobbe and even done the Bus Stop with Christy Turlington, not to mention the rather abstract foxtrot created under the Mihara banner.

Originating in 2005, the McQueen project attracted instant recognition, primarily due to the designer’s reputation as a very naughty boy. From the East End of London, McQueen is famously the son of a taxi driver who wet his whistle by making dresses for his sisters before joining Saville Row. Famed by the legendary Isabella Blow, McQueen then came to the attention of LMVH, who provocatively installed him as head of Givenchy.

The most recent PUMA shoes are probably the most sporty of McQueen’s interpretations to date, but compared to Y-3 for example, they are also driven by a heavily rendered concept. Based on an anatomical study which was billed as the ‘Ribcage Collection’, they were decorated with cellular graphics and featured tendons, veins and skeleton structures made from molded plastic and engineered mesh. The overall direction is quite challenging and thoroughly modern, and definitely far more idiosyncratic than any of his competitors in this niche. With names like Skin, Ankle Brace and Spine Lux, it appears McQueen also has a rather perverse sense of humour.

Interestingly, PUMA is now owned by the PPR group, a conglomerate with interests in Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Sergio Rossi, Stella McCartney and Balenciaga amongst others – not a bad roll call of the fashion world! Perhaps we will see further crossovers between PUMA and some of these esteemed fashion houses in the near future?

www.ppr.com