Puma’s ” Suede ” is a classic sneaker that has been a favorite around the world for 50 years. The originality and comfort of the suede upper established Puma’s position in street fashion. In this issue, we focus on Puma’s iconic “SUEDE” sneaker and introduce its appeal!
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Puma’s history of success in sports and street culture
It all started with a shoe manufacturer founded by the Dassler brothers in Germany
Puma’s founder, Rudolf Dassler, was born in Herzogenaurach, Germany, the second son of a shoemaker. Rudolf founded the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory with his brother Adolf in 1924. Starting their venture in their mother’s laundry room, the brothers began to make a name for themselves at the Amsterdam Olympics, where athletes wearing Dassler Brothers shoes won seven gold medals and five bronze medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The company grew to sell 200,000 pairs of shoes a year before World War II.
The Dassler brothers broke up and became ” Puma” and “Adidas”
During World War II, one had to be a member of the Nazi Party in order to conduct business. The Dassler brothers were also members of the Nazi Party, but Rudolf was somewhat closer to the party. The reasons for their growing hostility are speculated to include conflicting political philosophies, disagreements over management, and looting, but the brothers parted company in April 1948. The elder brother, Rudolf, founded a company called ” Ruda,” a combination of his own name, Ru for Rudolf, and Da for Dassler. To make it sound lighter, he changed the name to ” Puma ” a year later. Meanwhile, his younger brother Adolph founded ” adidas,” a combination of his nickname Adi and the first three letters of his last name, Das.
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After competition and stagnation with Adidas, the company became one of the world’s leading sports brands.
After the split between the Dassler brothers, competition between Puma and adidas was fierce. The rivalry split the town of Herzogenaurach in two, earning it the nickname ” the town with the bent head ” as people in the town would tilt their heads to check which shoes others were wearing. Athletes competed for the Olympics and the World Cup, and the competitive relationship continued even after the two founders retired. Puma’s brand image temporarily suffered due to its low-price strategy, but it made a comeback in the 1990s. The brand attracted attention for its collaborations with Jil Sander and other innovative collaborations between sports manufacturers and luxury fashion brands at the time. Today, the brand is loved by fashionistas as well as athletes, and offers a wide range of attractive products.
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