Puma Tennis: A Heritage Of Performance & Innovation Through Design
1985 saw PUMA sign a 17-year old German tennis player who went by the name of Boris Becker. What came next changed tennis forever, and has been part of PUMA folklore ever since. Becker became the youngest and first unseeded player ever to win Wimbledon. Resplendent in his signature PUMA mid tops and distinctive style of play Becker became bigger than the game itself. In 2015, PUMA celebrates the 30th anniversary of this unprecedented win and the brand’s heritage of unmatched on-court glory and off-court style.
Since 1948, PUMA has played the game its way and never stopped its pursuit of pushing sport forward. As a result, the brand’s archive is packed with over 65 years of records and trophies.
PUMA entered the tennis world soon after the company was established and launched its first professional tennis shoe, the Match, in the 60s. Some Match shoes were perforated for breathability.
Throughout the 70s and 80s, PUMA unleashed a flurry of performance enhancing tennis shoes: all white leather, occasional coloured Formstrips. They were high quality, made in Europe, tough to replicate and worn by the best athletes including Guillermo Villas, Martina Navratilova and of course Boris Becker.
PUMA designers were considering human factors that other companies weren’t thinking of yet. Their heightened awareness of ergonomics helped them pioneer a new approach to footwear that allowed PUMA athletes to outlast the competition.
This SS’15, PUMA will see many of their classic tennis show styles filed under ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’ re-issued reissued. Some are altered. Some are authentic to a fault.
The Match 74 is updated with added off-court appeal. Panels that were originally added to prevent players slipping on court now feature premium suede colour pops.
This season, PUMA looks to its Tennis archive to inspire its future and celebrate the brand’s rich sports heritage of being Forever Faster.
The Unisex Mode 