October 16th, 1968 is a date carved in the stones of history.
The 19th Olympic Games are taking place in Mexico City. Everything is ready at the University Olympic Stadium for the final of the 200 meters.
At the starting blocks are Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
Let’s stop for a moment and go back a year.
1967, at San José State University in California, Professor Harry Edwards is teaching a course on Racial Minorities. 60 students participate on the first day of class, and after a few months the class will skyrocket to 600. Among these are two athletes: Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
Smith grew up with his father in the California cotton fields while Carlos, born in the Bronx and raised in Harlem, comes from East Texas State University. Both are in San José to be coached by the famous Lloyd “Bud” Winter – the best sprinter coach in the world.
Let’s go back to the race. The starter kicks us off. Smith will win resoundingly by running under 20 seconds and Carlos will finish third, after the Australian Peter Norman.
The time has come for the award ceremony, and it will be a podium that will forever change the history of Black America and history in general.
During the National Anthem, the two African-American sprinters will lower their heads and raise their gloved fists in protest against racism and social injustice.
They will arrive on the podium barefoot with their shoes in their hands and lean on the steps. This is a moment that will enter history, and there’s even a statue at San José State University that recalls the moment. They’re immortalized in photographs and images that will go around the world. They’re the PUMA Suede.
In the 70s, these were the shoes that Walt “Clyde” Frazier, played in as two-time NBA champion in 1970 and 1973 with what were HIS New York Knicks, seven-time All-Star and member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The B-boys and the New York crews have made it an aesthetic symbol, and not just in the 80s.
For over 50 years, the PUMA Suede have represented an anchor. A real icon imprinted in the collective imagination, becoming a timeless classic.
The appointment is for Wednesday November 4th when the Suede Classic XXI will finally be released. It’s characterized by the classic suede upper, the unmistakable PUMA Formstrip and the PUMA logo on the tongue.
They will be available on PUMA.com, at PUMA and AW LAB stores, and in selected retailers.
But this is only the beginning. More colorways and collaborations will be released throughout 2021 to better celebrate the return of an icon that’s made to last forever.
