The godfather of urban vinyl toys, Hong Kong based artist Michael Lau, gets on board with PUMA to create a sneaker to honour the Suede’s 50th anniversary. Known for his collectable designer toy figures and freehand-style illustrations, Lau takes his bold and brilliant technique to the Suede in a collaboration #ForAllTime.
The PUMA x Michael Lau “SAMPLE SUEDE” is inspired by the sample sneakers that brands produce as a model for production or final testing. Lau gives the iconic silhouette a prototypical feel by using work-in-progress details such as the zig-zag finishing of the fabric sample along the Formstripe, lacing and tongue. Detailing of “50 ample Suede Not For You Only For Me” is embossed on the heel of the shoe. The Chinese character for “sample” is designed on a sample swatch for the tongue and sockliner. An ‘L’ is on the heel tab of the left kick, an ‘R’ on the right. The right shoe features lighter grays, the left darker. It’s a mix-matched magnum opus on the white thick laces and textured sole frame. The insole is taken from the form that the factory fills out when identifying a sample – with the style name, article number, colourway code and factory code.
Lau answered some questions on his first PUMA collaboration:
What excites you about this PUMA collaboration?
ML: This is my first time working with PUMA. I am pretty excited as I was able to work on such an iconic model such as the Suede, and that PUMA approved my idea of turning it into a ‘sample’ version. As for the “Worth Cat” figurine, it is selling at SGD 63 in Singapore (Limited Edt) and there are total of 7,000 pieces only in the world and its produced from Michael Lau himself.
What makes the Suede special to you?
ML: “My connection to the PUMA Suede is that I am from that generation. It is celebrating its 50th anniversary and that means we are all around the same age. Our generation really has seen the sneaker culture develop. From the 70s, 80s, 90s, all the way into the 2000s. It’s classic like me now. It was right there from 3 when I was young, and was prevalent in the early formation of youth and street culture, and is still around. I’d say that makes the Suede pretty classic.”
Tell us about the Suede you designed.
ML: “For PUMA’s 50th anniversary, I wanted to still keep the theme of the “Sample” Suede that was released in November, but at the same time have something that reflects the 50th anniversary. The shades of grey are like looking and flipping through old black-and-white photographs. This also gives the sneakers a nostalgic feeling. We’ve kept a lot of the classic features intact along with the “Sample” Leather’s details like the shape, logos, swatch tags, but instead of the “Sample” Leather version of the tag, we used a special 50th anniversary branded one.” Just like the release of the “Sample” Suede, this will also come with a figure. Each figure matches one of 7 shades found on the sneaker, so there are 7 different figures with different facial expressions. And with the figures, it’s just great that I am able to incorporate a figure with my collaborations, including these sneakers. I wanted to take attributes from the sneaker and put them into the figure as much as possible to compliment the sneakers for a complete package. This name of the figure is “The Worth Cat.” It’s based on a sample swatches shape, but also has parts from a puma. The best part is, if you look at the nose, paws and tail, you will see that all details are from the PUMA logo.
“A lot of the times when I come up with a sneaker design, it might not be for everyone. I rather think of them as creations that are for collecting. I guess that’s because I approach it like artwork.”
The PUMA x Michael Lau “SAMPLE SUEDE” drops January 20th, at Crossover Concept Store and SoleWhat. Retailing at RM510.
