It’s not often that a brand’s PR email brings back memories from decades past. When Puma’s publicist in India sent me a letter inviting me to the launch party for their shoe collection, the first thought that came to my mind was “Wow! Who would have thought I would be invited by this brand, let alone party with Boris Becker! I wish I could find that old Puma I had.”
I couldn’t make it to the party, but they sent me some great shoes that I’ve worn more than a few times since I got them. I had to clean it before taking pictures. They’re white shoes. I organized it only after I was able to establish all the main points of the story I wanted to share. (It usually involved digging through 10-year-old photo albums, which left no excuse).
Let’s start with detailed photos #GameSetBecker Shoes sent by the brand – 2016 (December). As with all shoes, I prefer to wear them with the laces undone. These are heavy and thick shoes. They make me look and feel much younger than I am. Wearing thick socks will make your feet feel more comfortable. It takes a lot of time to break in these shoes.
I bought my first pair of Puma shoes when I was in Bombay around 2006/2008. I loved, and still do, the combination of crimson and turquoise. I needed almost everything on sale in that color combination for my wardrobe. The idea behind the color combination is connected to the concept I had for my graphic design brand “aside”. The idea was that when turquoise salmon swim upstream to spawn, once they spawn they turn crimson and die. After giving birth to a new generation. It symbolized the metaphor of “the phoenix from the ashes”, although it was not entirely fantastical. I took the liberty of tweaking the colors a bit, but salmon are real fish and in my part of the planet I do this every season. Always a realist. Dreaming of big things. Contradiction is my strength.
I still have this pair. It’s suede, but it’s pretty worn.
Before I bought shoes, I used to wear my mom’s Puma shoes. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photos of me wearing those shoes, but I was able to find a few photos of my mom wearing those shoes. It has a velcro closure, is made in the USA from leather, and has lasted for decades, donated and still not thrown away. If you look at the photo below, you can clearly see who my mom is. Below that, on the far right, wearing a brown jacket. Below are two pictures of her celebrating Diwali wearing a yellow kurta. Another of hers wearing a brown jacket at the shooting range. I then took two more photos of her wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt.
Most of the photos are from the early 90s. It’s from 1990 and maybe 1993.
Thanks to Puma, reminiscing is a lot of fun. And thank you for the Boris Becker shoes! It’s heavy, hard, and made of leather. And considering how much I wear them, they get dirty pretty quickly.
The shoes I have (the white ones above) are made in Vietnam and are no longer made in the United States. Puma in red and blue suede is also produced in Vietnam.
Hopefully I can do great things with the brand. For now, all I can do is take some great performance photos for them. How wonderful would that be? I love what I do and the experiences and enjoyment it gives me.
Thank you for reading and looking at the photos!
Other #Foodwear Features on Naina.co
(Don’t miss him posing for me to take the shot as I set up the camera to match the ambient lighting.)
