Footwear brands across the industry have a long history of connecting with Asian culture to bring design motifs, color palettes, and pop culture references to the entire world.
Following recent footwear collaborations with the likes of Crocs and Clarks Originals, PUMA is now entering the world of the popular anime franchise with its own Pokémon collection. With all sneaker brands collaborating with popular manga and anime franchises, it’s time for Puma to pay homage to one of the most iconic anime series of all time, Pokémon, through a 5-piece collection that immortalizes popular first-generation Pokémon in sneaker form.
ABOUT THE SHOES
Each of the four Pokémon in the collection, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur, gets brought to life on four different Puma silhouettes, the Slipstream, Suede, RS-X, and Future Rider.
Starting with Charmander, the sneaker gets covered in the Pokémon’s color scheme of orange and yellow across the suede upper with the latter of the two acting as the base layer.
Pokémon Squirtle brings icy blue hues with contrasting deep blues to the Puma Suede.
Pikachu and Bulbasaur also bring their colors to their respective silhouettes.
Details on each pair, like the character featured on the tongue tag, the included Pokémon-branded hang tag, and the heels logo that denotes each respective fighting style truly pay homage to the iconic characters while at the same time maintaining the OG design of each Puma silhouette.
Other hidden details, like co-branded Puma and Pokémon logos as well as Pokédex numbers, are present on the insole and lining of the tongue respectively.
The Pokémon x Puma Footwear Collection is set to release on November 12.
