In retrospect, the Puma Suede (AKA Puma Clyde, AKA Puma State) and hip-hop were made for each other, so it’s no wonder the Suede was THE shoe to rock back in the day. Both are designed to move right while looking tight.

B-boys and graffiti artists needed a shoe that was tough and grippy but that looked clean and sharp everywhere you took it. Fat laces or none at all, perfectly color matched to your clothes or even in mismatched pairs (a la MC Shan), the Suede had you covered.

As Walt “Clyde” Frazier said of his namesake version of the Suede:

It wasn’t just a basketball shoe…you could style in this shoe. Off the court, I used to wear my mink coat and my big hat and I’d have my Clydes on. No one said anything about that. If you wore Clydes man…you were cool. You knew what was happening.

Out-hustling and out-muscling. Driving and mesmerizing. Swooping and hooping and looking cool doing it. Now that’s hip-hop.

Published on Apr 23, 2010 Filed under: Hip Hop