s t y l e h a l l o f fa m e
E CCO Y U C ATA N
ODE TO THE SUEDE Fr o m h o o p s t a r s t o h i p - h o p f a n s t o s k a t e r s t o c r e a t i v e s of all stripes, the Puma Suede has held center court of sneaker cool for six decades and counting. By Greg Dutter
DURING MY ELEMENTARY school years, growing up on the mean streets of Maplewood, NJ (think Mayberry), all I had ever known and worn were canvas kicks. The neighborhood kids, a.k.a. Park Road Panthers, sported lo- and hi-top versions of Pro-Keds or Converse Chuck Taylors in black or white with a sprinkling of navy blue mixed into the crowd. (For historical accuracy, a few kids wore dreaded “Pathmark Specials,” which were brand-less Chucks knockoffs sold at our local supermarket of the same name—a parent-induced sneaker shame that surely has left emotional scars to this day!) This was my BS (Before Suede) sneaker phase. Because, around 5th grade, my world forever changed. That’s when I first caught sight of a new sneaker being worn by some of the older (cooler) kids in town. They were rebels and early adopters. They were skateboarders—scruffy, wiry guys who hung around our railroad station, surfing its supremely smooth asphalt hill and doing
board tricks on the steps and curbs day after day. The fact that the Alphas of this heavily tagged “Dogtown” hangout were sporting these new kicks—one wore a lush red pair while the other rocked Celtic green—fueled my belief that these were shoes I had to have. The vivid colors were mouthwatering—the red style looked like the inside of a red velvet cake—and the almost terrycloth-like suede upper was a tactile revelation begging to be held. I did a little research. I asked my two older brothers about these cool, new shoes I’d seen. Being older brothers, they knew right away what I was referring to. They approved. Case closed. Little did I, in my narrow world, realize just how hip this particular sneaker already was. It already had a rich history that dated back a decade or so. The shoe, in its original incarnation, had enjoyed a memorable debut at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics when African-American athletes Tommie Smith
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