Touching down during Paris Fashion Week, PUMA Suede House opened its doors as a celebration, exploration, and live demonstration of how the Suede has evolved from its early roots to its place in culture today.
We already know the headline link-ups on PUMA’s roster: A$AP Rocky, Rihanna, Skepta, and numerous elite athletes. You can’t have missed their recent collaborations – Aries, JJJJound, and KidSuper to name a few. But on a deeper cultural level, the Suede is more than a product moment — it’s a silhouette that’s moved through generations; your dad probably wore a pair at your age. Suede House reminded us of that lineage, reinforcing a simple truth: PUMA has always been here, and it’s not going anywhere.
Originally embraced by hip-hop and street style, with FUBU-era energy and early cultural adoption, the Suede quickly crossed into sport. The PUMA Clyde became the NBA’s first signature sneaker, cementing its place on the hardwood. From hoops to bowls, the Suede then found its way onto the feet of skaters, underground music heads, and DIY creatives, and became the uniform across skate parks, stages, and city streets.
Opening night carried that same energy. The space was home to familiar faces — Skepta, fakemink, Lancey Foux, Sainté, and AntsLive, to name a few.
The brand also collaborated with online communities and brought them together IRL. A reminder that things can’t live solely on timelines; they need physical space too. The programming added context. Welcome curated an archive installation that traced the Suede back to its 1968 origins. Samutaro curated a visual installation referencing fashion, music, art, and street culture, while 114 Index took things to the streets, leading a community run through Paris.
With the collectives’ understanding of PUMA’s heritage and innovation, the experience offered a full-circle view of the brand — where it’s been, how it’s evolved, and why it still resonates. It wasn’t nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake; it was history placed firmly in the present.
PUMA Suede House showed just how tapped-in the brand’s marketing has become in recent years, while also underlining the importance of educating consumers in thoughtful, impactful ways. PUMA has always had heritage, but this was a reminder that looking back can be a powerful way to move forward.
You could see it on the streets of Paris — from runway looks to silhouettes that make you stop and say, “Wait, that’s PUMA?”. Put simply, cool people are wearing PUMA, and this was the proof.
Rather than chasing tired trends, PUMA levelled up by looking inward. Back to basics. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If this is how 2026 is shaping up, we’re paying attention.
