Puma Suede Vintage 'Purple High Risk Red'
Colorway: Purple · Style code: 374921-23 · Price: $2452 · Availability: Available now
More colorways: Puma Suede Vintage 'Honey Mustard' (374921-01) · Puma Suede Vintage 'Ponderosa Pine' (374921-02) · Puma Suede Vintage 'Kelly Green' (374921-03) · Puma Suede Vintage Sneakers (374921-04) · Puma Suede Vintage 'Black' (374921-05)
Purple and red is a pairing most sneaker lines avoid, and it is the entire reason this Vintage pair registers. Purple covers the upper, high risk red supplies the contrast, and the retro build underneath keeps the proportions close to the original rather than following the thicker soles this shape has also been given. Puma set the list price at 90 dollars, in line with the rest of the Vintage range.
Two colours this close on the wheel should clash, and they very nearly do, which is more interesting than a safe combination on a silhouette this familiar. The material helps: a matte surface keeps both tones from looking plastic, and the pile gives the purple a depth that stops it reading as costume. This is not a pair that works with much, and that is worth saying plainly. Black, grey and indigo are the sensible partners, and anything else in the outfit needs to stand well back. For a shape that has been produced in nearly every colour imaginable, though, a combination that still raises an eyebrow counts as an achievement.