PUMA Unknown

What would an archaeologist do with a rare and wonderful artifact given that they could deduce no data from it? We’d imagine it’d still thrive in a museum, info or not, and we harbor an identical idea when it comes to sneakers.

We like to pride ourselves on our proclaimed sneaker passion, showing it not through the mass accumulation of private stock, nor through many outrageous curb camp sessions (though we’ve certainly had our share) or reseller battle fests of highly limited, potentially over-hyped goodies. And we certainly do our best to keep any elitism or one-up-manship to a minimum when it comes to measuring the make, materials, and general modus operandi of any footwear pair that crosses our path, especially in the case of ultra rare, coveted, and otherwise spectacular vintage treats, mostly at the fear of alienating our audience (but also with a dash of self-respect thrown in as well).

You see, here at eatmoreshoes it’s all about our community. We do it all for the fellow trainer addicts, and for that reason we’ll constantly push for a single unwavering thread shown clearly in our work: hungrily and healthily reporting on the history and the hype of trainers, sneakers, kicks, or even – more simply put – shoes.

But despite that focal point of our mission it’s impossible for us (or anyone other single entity, even including the brands themselves, for that matter) to claim that we have an unbounded, unending, all-seeing intelligence of sneakers past, present, and future. Especially the past. The history behind many, many pairs will not only elude some of the top sneaker historians around, but they will most likely elude the entire world until these very mysterious (and many times majestic) creatures crumble into aged leather dust particles, either upon our feet or within their boxes.

The question for our friends and fellow fans of ancient trainers out there is: does this lack of provable or factual knowledge make sharing a shoe any less attractive? We would certainly like to think not. Even if we can’t claim a ton of understanding when it comes to a rare vintage pair, we hope that simply showing and admiring such wondrous relics with our readers will attribute back to our main goal of acting upon and generating sneaker-related inspiration.

And that is exactly what we present to you here. The PUMA ‘unknown’, if you will. An unmarked, completely unknown silhouette, not only to us, but the sneaker community at large. Believe us, we’ve asked around, and in fact with this very article we’re still asking, hoping that some sneaker-crazed stranger comes digitally waltzing in to clear up the etymology on this exquisite pair.

So what do we know? A striking colorway is only the start for these PUMA unknown’s. Guessed to be a production of the 1970s, their suede upper has a distinct missile-like shape, with such a well-cut toe-box reinforcement that it must be mentioned. The outsole, which looks quite identical to that of the PUMA All White, is given a beveled edge, two types of tread, and a waffle grip cup for added, indoor-use traction and pivoting.

In a tip of the hat to Crooked Tongues, one might say that if you can’t spread knowledge then at least you can show some love. Even boxless, dateless, and nameless we find that these unknown PUMA’s our a pleasure to look over, and beyond their own elusive life story, we wonder who else out there has the luck of personally owning a pair.

written by Dylan Cromwell

photography by errol