PUMA x BUTTER GOODS

Text: Caiza Andresen

Even though sneaker culture has some of its roots in skate culture, the concept of a skate shoe is wildly different from that of »grail hunting«.

You see while sneakerheads nowadays fanatically try to keep their precious ones in mint condition a skate shoe is already »born to die«. A skate shoe is exposed to far tougher conditions. Skating tears up your shoes, but in a way a bodybuilder tears up his muscles (…well his grow back together and become even bigger) when he’s exercising. If you don’t shred your shoes, you’re not doing it right.
Every griptape-beat shoe is like a medal showing that you are doing the right thing.

Another funny thing is that when I was growing up skate shoes, namely Osiris and company, exactly looked as deformed as an overzealous bodybuilder. But there’s a reason old school skaters were skating Puma Clydes, Suedes and cheap canvas shoes with gum soles. The air system was not born yet and it wasn’t needed. You need to feel connected to your board. Remember that, because we will come back to shoes in a minute.

But first let’s talk about Butter Goods.
Butter Goods was founded in Australia by two guys, Matt Evans and Garth Mariano, who once said they started the brand because they weren’t as skilled in skating to get sponsored, so they decided to produce their own clothing. Before that they were already producing VHS tapes with their crew with Matt even making his own boards in High School. Both of them decided to study graphic design and as soon as they thought they were good enough they started Butter Goods, keeping all Australian skate brands in mind they admired while growing up.

Those brands unfortunately were long gone, but Butter Goods was there to stay. And in contrast of those fallen comrades Butter created a buzz on an international base. Europe, the US and Japan quickly welcomed the brand, which helped the two to exercise another passion: Traveling. Connecting to people and local skate scenes worldwide.

The reason I am writing this article is not only my admiration for their business sense, their hustle and their love for skating, but also a pretty sweet collaboration those two Australian mates have been cooking up with traditional German footwear giant Puma. A collection not only consisting of one pair of shoes and a logo shirt, but of tracksuits, crewnecks, two pairs of shoes, shirts and my personal favorite, the matching polo shirt and shorts.

Might be a long stretch, but keeping his connection with Puma in mind I could easily picture the young and hungry Boris Becker rocking that get up on the court while winning his first Wimbledon. Pure retro vibes. That’s their motivation behind this collab. With Matt and Garth citing their love for retro skate videos as one of their main inspiration while studying, there is no need to wonder where they got their inspiration when you see this collection.

The chosen sneaker silhouettes are very interesting as well. The Butter Goods guys chose two sneakers that you don’t see that often, namely the Puma Slipstream and the Basket. The Slipstream was released for the first time back in the 1980‘s as a Hightop version and can now be purchased as a Lowtop version. Perfectly crafted to look good on a board or just everywhere else. There are two colorways available. One in classy black with green accents and one in a crisp white get up.

The Basket was introduced way back in the 1970‘s as a basketball sneaker, but was quickly adapted off the court as well and became one of the sneakers of choice for every member of the soon to emerge Hip-hop scene – A scene that influenced Matt and Garth just as much as skateboarding did. This silhouette also comes in two colorways: »Rooibos Tea« and »Dark Denim«.

Skateboarding was born sometime between the 1940‘s and the 1950‘s with the first magazine dedicated to this new sport or better said this new culture in 1964.
1975 can be seen as a turning point with the the largest competition to date, the Del Mar National Championships, where soon to be legends like Stacy Peralta, Peggy Oki and Tony Alva competed. It has come a long way and we have seen trends within the community, hence my stint at the chunky, monstrous Osiris skate shoes of my youth, but one thing always stayed important – To not forget your roots.

Butter Goods and Puma honor the history of skateboarding with their retro designs and retro silhouettes and also the concept of connecting with like-minded individuals all over the world. That’s why two skate-obsessed kids from down under came together with a brand from Herzogenaurach to celebrate what’s most important to them.

The Puma x Butter Goods collection is now available at HHV.

Visual Content: Oliver Kristen für HHV