Puma: two brothers, one Formstrip and a tech-runner revival
Few sportswear names carry as much history as Puma. Founded in a small Bavarian town just after the Second World War, the brand has dressed Olympic sprinters, World Cup legends and New York basketball stars, and spent the last decades moving easily between the track and the street. This season Puma is back at ANSH46 with a tight selection of technical outerwear and an archive runner, now in our Rotterdam store.
Two brothers, one town
Puma's story starts in Herzogenaurach, a town near Nuremberg. In the 1920s the brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler ran a shoe factory there together, making sports shoes under the family name. Their partnership broke down after the war, and in 1948 Rudolf set up his own company. He first called it Ruda, a contraction of his name, before settling on Puma. Adolf, known as Adi, went on to found adidas.
The split famously divided Herzogenaurach itself, with two rival shoe companies in one small town. It also set the tone for a rivalry that pushed both brands to innovate, and that still shapes how people talk about German sportswear today.
The Formstrip and the football pitch
In 1958 Puma introduced the Formstrip, the sweeping band along the side of the shoe. It started as a way to add support, and became one of the most recognisable marks in sport. Around the same time Puma built its name in football boots, and the line that became the Puma King turned into a fixture on the world stage. Pelé wore Puma at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, one of the most celebrated tournaments in the game's history.
From the track to the court
The Suede arrived in 1968, the year sprinter Tommie Smith won Olympic gold in the 200 metres in Mexico City wearing Puma. In 1973 the brand gave New York Knicks guard Walt "Clyde" Frazier his own shoe, the Clyde, one of the earliest signature basketball sneakers. Its suede upper and simple profile later made it a staple of hip-hop and breakdance culture, which is a big part of why the Suede still feels current.
Technology kept moving too. In 1991 Puma launched Disc, a laceless closure system operated by a dial, and the late 1990s and early 2000s brought a run of futuristic, metallic running shoes that are now being reissued from the archive.
Puma at ANSH46
Our Puma selection focuses on pieces that work as well in Rotterdam rain as they do on the street:
- CLRT Jacket in Flat Dark Gray, a relaxed ripstop jacket with windCELL wind protection, an adjustable hood and zip pockets. It is made with recycled materials.
- CLRT Pants in Flat Dark Gray, the matching ripstop pants with windCELL, an elasticated drawcord waist, bungee hems and zip pockets.
- ESS Relaxed Padded Jacket in Puma Black, a relaxed padded jacket with warmCELL insulation, a water-repellent finish and fleece-lined pockets, made from recycled polyester.
- Homura OG+ in Matte Silver/Puma Black, which brings Puma's early-2000s tech-runner back from the archive in matte silver with black overlays and translucent details.
Quantities are small, so sizes are limited.
How to wear it
The CLRT jacket and pants are designed as a set, and wearing them together in the same flat dark gray gives a clean, technical look that sits somewhere between a tracksuit and outdoor gear. Break the set up by wearing the jacket over a heavyweight hoodie and washed black denim, or the pants with a plain white tee and a knit for a more relaxed weekend look.
The ESS Relaxed Padded Jacket is the practical layer for colder days: wear it over a sweatshirt with wide-leg trousers, or over a shirt and knit when you want something less sporty. The Homura OG+ ties everything together. Its silver upper picks up the technical feel of the CLRT pieces, while still working with denim, sweatpants or tailored trousers.
Taken together, the pieces show why Puma keeps finding a place in fashion: a brand with more than seventy years of sport behind it that still makes clothes and shoes people want to wear every day.
Shop the full Puma collection online, or come and see the pieces in person at our store on the Van Oldenbarneveltstraat in Rotterdam. For more archive runners, read our story on Saucony.