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. In the last few years, Japanese anime and manga have appeared via collaborations with brands like adidas thanks to their link-up with Dragonball Z and most recently Yu-Gi-Oh! on an entire collection of footwear options. Now, 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.
Each of the five Pokémon in the collection, Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Gengar get brought to life on four different Puma silhouettes, the Slipstream, Suede, RS-X, and Future Rider respectively (except Pikachu who is also featured on the Future Rider). Starting with the fiery 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. Squirtle brings icy blue hues with contrasting deep blues to the Puma Suede while 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 12th, 2022 through Puma and select retailers online and in-store. Coming in men’s and kids sizing, the retail price varies between $55 and $120. Keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app to stay updated on release info for this Pokémon footwear collection and more in the sneaker and streetwear world.
Pokémon x Puma Slipstream “Charmander”
Pokémon x Puma Suede “Squirtle”
Pokémon x Puma RS-X “Pikachu”
Pokémon x Puma Future Rider “Pikachu”
Pokémon x Puma Future Rider “Bulbasaur”
Pokémon x Puma TRC Blaze Court "Gengar"
