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Puma Drops Handball Sneakers and KidSuper Collab

Puma dropped its second collaboration with the Brooklyn artist collective KidSuper Studios Saturday, revealing a unique, colorful collection of apparel and footwear.

Eye-catching graphics feature across the collection’s apparel range. An all-over painted design covers a puffer jacket. Sketches of faces are remade into a camo print on a fleece top and pants. An abstract purple face appears on a quarter zip and a pair of track pants.

Puma, however, touted the collection’s bathrobe as “the most unique and impressive piece” in the lineup. Covered in a red, yellow and white all-over print, it features co-branded embroidery on the back and piping on the collar edge, cuff and hem. It also comes with a belt, front pockets and internal pocket.

KidSuper redesigned four Puma footwear silhouettes for the collaboration. The RS-2K Slip-On brings back the camo-inspired face print on a quilted upper. The Mirage Mox and Trailfox Boot receive colorful transformations and sport unique aspects like tie-dye laces on the former and stitched leather pieces on the collar of the latter. The Vesuvo, a subtler option, features a white leather upper, a semi-translucent rubber overlay on the heel, KidSuper Studios embroidery on hook and loop straps and an exposed foam edge on the formstrip and tongue.

Inspired by KidSuper founder Colm Dillane’s love of international football, campaign images for the collection were shot with his favorite team and recent Copa Libertadores champions, Brazilian club Palmeiras. Puma-sponsored athletes William, Gabriel Veron, Weverton and Renan served as the collection’s models.

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Puma launches two new handball silhouettes

Puma unveiled two revamped handball performance footwear silhouettes Thursday. Leading Puma players donned both designs this past weekend at the Olympic Handball Tournament qualification matches in Berlin; Montpellier, France; and Trondheim, Norway.

Puma’s handball footwear tradition dates back to 1948. Its two latest designs draw inspiration from the brand’s back catalogue, reintroducing the 2005 Accelerate and 2011 Eliminate shoes. Both silhouettes have been updated with the latest Puma technologies and handball performance insights.

Puma designed its Accelerate Turbo Nitro for handball wingers.
Accelerate Turbo Nitro Puma

The Accelerate Turbo Nitro, designed for wingers and the fastest players, features Nitro Foam for enhanced cushioning and propulsion and an engineered upper for multi-directional movement stability. Players wearing the Accelerate include Luc Abalo of France; Timo Kastening, Tobias Reichmann and Emily Bölk of Germany; Mathias Gidsel, Jacob Holm, Emil Jakobsen and Lasse Andersson of Denmark; Daniel Pettersson of Sweden; and Veronica Kristiansen of Norway.

Puma designed the Eliminate Power Nitro for powerful playmakers. It too features the brand’s Nitro Foam. The shoe will be worn by Dika Mem and Hugo Descat France; Paul Drux, Fabian Wiede and Hendrik Pekeler of Germany; Rasmus Lauge of Denmark; and Andreas Nilsson of Sweden.

Puma designed its Eliminate Power Nitro for handball playmakers.
Eliminate Power Nitro Puma

“The Accelerate and Eliminate shoes are the culmination of thousands of hours of research and testing,” Matthias Bäumer, general manager BU Teamsport at Puma, said in a statement. “The introduction of the new Accelerate and Eliminate is a statement for a new era of Puma Handball. We have completely reimagined our product engine, investing in sports marketing partnerships and communications to bring our brand energy and passion to the handball category and push the sport forward, faster, through culture, innovation and conversation.”

Both shoes will become available at handball retailers Weplayhandball, Indoortrends and H-Shop starting April 1. The full Puma handball footwear range will launch in May on Puma’s website and other handball retailers.