PUMA Flipper

ART NUMBER: 

MADE ON: 

MADE IN: 

FACTORY: 

With the large amount of shoes PUMA have in their back catalogue and archive, there’s plenty that occasionally pop up which may either not have been seen before or which very little is known about them. The Flipper is a shoe that in the recent decade may have been seen knocking around in a random sport shops, but before it apparently got discarded from the mainstream it was a highly regarded model.

The silhouette of the Flipper is similar to that of other models from the 1970’s such as the Heynckes-Comet, Cruijff Royal and the Jeans. There’s an earlier version in the same colourway, but with a different sole unit and interior. That pair was made in West Germany, where as this pair is more than likely to be from Yugoslavia.

The aesthetics of the shoe may be relatively simple, but it’s the details in them which make them stand out. The suede Red upper is contrasted by the accents and the separate front toe-piece section. Other details worth noticing is the PUMA branding on the rear of the sole and the tongue patch and the Cat logo with the inclusion of its eye.

The model did get re-issues between the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, but they took a different approach and as they had been gone for so long they were almost a totally different shoe to the originals. However, as good as these are it would’ve hard for the same details to be replicated, especially as reference pairs are very scarce to come by.

Photography: errol

Text: Professor B