If you haven't already started seeing the PUMA Speedcat everywhere, you're about to very soon. The slim, late-’90s racing shoe is in the middle of a full-blown revival with designer collaborations, pop-up events, and celebrity co-signs all in tow.
One collaboration that has been teased for a while is with OPEN YY, the South Korean fashion brand formerly known as Theopen Product, and it has finally gotten its full reveal.
Arriving in three colorways, OPEN YY has given the PUMA Speedcat some new upgrades in the form of mesh paneling, a shiny finish on its formstripe logo, and a big, flappy tongue.
It makes the Speedcat the latest in a slew of sneaker releases that have extended the length of the tongue so that it folds over on top of the laces (a feature fellow football fans will recognize from iconic boots like the adidas Kaiser or PUMA King).
What started with Wales Bonner and its ever-popular takes on the adidas Samba has developed into a boom in flappy-tongued sneakers: the German brand's given handball shoes an oversized tongue, Reebok and Botter launched vintage football-boot-inspired sneakers with a strap to keep the tongue folded down, and Rihanna joined the fun with her FENTY x PUMA collaboration.
Big tongues are big news at the moment and PUMA’s speedcat, thanks to its OPEN YY collaboration, is joining the movement.
The brand’s updated take on the former F1 racing shoe is releasing in black, light pink, and a sandy beige hue on March 23 via PUMA and OPEN YY’s online and physical stores.
Following up on the shoe being worn consistently by the ever-reliable barometer of good taste, Emily Ratajkowski, the announcement of a collaboration with JUUN.J, and A$AP Rocky bringing new relevance to PUMA’s F1 heritage, the PUMA Speedcat is a model to look out for in 2024.
PUMA’s wild archive has been getting lots of attention lately and the Speedcat is up next.
