Puma

• 
  Girls Puma Footwear
• 
  Men Puma Accessories
• 
  Men Puma Footwear
• 
  Women Puma Bags
• 
  Women Puma Footwear

• 
  Puma The Puma Mid PF Sneakers in Forest Night
• 
  Puma The Clyde Hall Of Game Sneaker
• 
  Puma The UNLTD Hi Grape & Blue

Puma is a German sportswear and footwear company. Now on its 85th year in the fashion biz, Puma continues to be the worldwide leader in athletic apparel and footwear.

Puma’s humble beginnings started with the founding of the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik (Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory) in 1924 by brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler in Herzogenaurach, Germany.

In 1936, Adolf persuaded US sprinter Jesse Owens to wear his Dassler spikes running shoes. This became the first major endorsement deal any African-American athlete. Owens ended up taking home four gold medals, which helped the Dassler Shoes gain worldwide fame in the world of sports. Before the end of the World War II, Dassler Shoes had sold over 200,000 pairs.

In 1948, the brothers parted ways into their own entrepreneurial ventures. Adolf started Adidas, which was derived from his nickname “Adi”. Rudolf, on the other hand, renamed the company to Puma Schuhfabrik Rudolf Dassler and launched the company’s first soccer shoe, the Puma Atom.

The following year, Rudolf manufactured soccer shoes with screw-in studs. By 1950, he coordinated with German National Coach Sepp Herberger to develop the company’s line of soccer shoes. Herberger’s players, including Herbert Burdenski who scored the first goal during the post-war games, wore Dassler’s special Puma shoes.

In 1952, Puma’s Super Atom shoes saw the light of day. They were distributed to 27 topnotch soccer players from the Dortmund, VfB Stuttfart, Eintracht Frankfurt, and FC Kaiserslautern clubs; and were worn by topnotch German soccer players Werner Liebrich and Horst Eckel. The same year, Luxembourg’s Josef Barthel, who was donning his Pumas, won the Olympic Gold for 1500 meter run held in Helsinki, Finland. The following year Rudolf worked on Atom’s heir, the Brazil.

In 1958, Puma signed a form strip at the FIFA World Cup held in Sweden. Shortly after, the company was renamed as PUMA-Sportschuhfabriken Rudolf Dassler KG and became a limited partnership.

In the dawn of the 1960’s, Puma pioneered the advanced vulcanization production technique, which helped gave birth to the Wembley in 1966. Wembley served as the predecessor of the King model, which was launched in 1968. Puma’s King Shoes were the first athletic shoes equipped with Velcro fasteners.

With the passing of Rudolf in 1974, his sons Armin and Gerd took over the company. Two years after they assumed the top position, and launched the ground-breaking S.P.A. technology. In 1982, Armin invented the Duoflex sole. By 1989, Rudolf’s sons Armin and Gerd Dassler sold 72 percent of Puma stocks to Swiss company Cosa Liebermann SA. That same year, the company unveiled the Trinomic Sport Shoe System.

The company welcomed the 1990’s with the launch of Inspector, a growth control system designed for children’s footwear. In 1998, Puma started widening its horizons. That year, the company partnered with designer Jil Sander to produce a clothing line. Two years later, the company coordinated with Sparco and Porsche to design fireproof shoes.

By 2006, Puma launched a shoe lines in coordination with well-known designer Alexander McQueen and topnotch car companies Ferrari and BMW. In the following year the company launched a sports apparel line created by the laser-sewing technology. Players from the Brazilian Team “Gremio” were the second to use their new athletic wear, after Puma the 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners, Italy.

In 2008, contemporary designer Hussein Chalayan became the company’s creative director and was tasked to be in charge of the line’s high-end apparel. Other designers working for Puma include Lamine Kouyate, Amy Garbers among many others. Japanese fashion guru Mihara Yasuhiro even teamed up with Puma to produce high-end sneakers.

Outside its fashion ventures, Puma remains to be well-known for its athletic sponsorships. Sports stars who wore Pumas include Pele, who wore a pair of the brand’s shoes during the 1970 FIFA World Cup along with Walt “Clyde” Frazier, Ake Bua, Johnny Damon, Usain Bolt, Serena Williams, Oscar De La Hoya, and Vince Carter.

Throughout the years the company has seen a resurgence of style and technology. With all of the successes that the Puma has accomplished in the footwear industry, there is no doubt why it remains to be a relevant shoe brand in the world.