LONDON — Puma is making a bid for the luxury market with its latest design collaboration.
The German activewear company has teamed with Schedoni, the Italian leather manufacturer best known for designing custom-made luggage for Ferrari, to create a line of bespoke leather sneakers.
“Ninety percent of sports products are made in the Far East now,” said Christian Weisender, international sales manager of Puma, during the launch of the brand at a temporary Puma by Schedoni store here last week. “Now was the right time to go back to our roots. It’s the first customized sneaker to be made with an Italian manufacturer.”
Called Puma by Schedoni, the line has a personal touch. A pop-up leather work station, which looks like a traveling trunk, will be installed at as many as 50 retailers worldwide, which will allow customers to choose their own color combination of sneakers made from Schedoni’s suede or naturally tanned leather.
The sneakers then are made within four weeks at Schedoni’s manufacturing base in Italy and arrive to the customer numbered, complete with a certificate signed by those who worked on it. A maximum of 500 shoes can be made in any one color combination.
And the line will have a high-end price to match the attention to detail that goes into the sneakers. Prices for the five-piece collection start at 450 euros, or $590, for a pair of suede and leather shoes, while a pair of fireproof leather high-top sneakers, which are designed to withstand a fire in a race car, will retail for 750 euros, or $986. Bags will retail from between 950 euros, or $1,250, for a leather and suede bag, and 1,200 euros, or $1,578, for a bag in full-grain Schedoni leather.
“We want to reach a target group that is not only willing to spend money, but that understands what the difference is between the best leather quality and something basic,” said Weisender. “This project is targeting a niche market, but within that niche there’s been a very high demand.”
The work stations will go into Puma’s Black stores worldwide, and high-end department stores, such as Harrods here. “We need to have the right buyer sensibility and the right sales staff in place, to explain to the consumer what it’s all about.”
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Pietro Schira, marketing manager at Puma, declined to give sales projections for the line, which he said would target a different customer from the company’s other fashion lines with designers such as Alexander McQueen and Philippe Starck. “We expect sales to be in line with that of a custom-made, luxury collection,” said Schira. “It’s a completely different customer from our Alexander McQueen line, which is positioned in avant-garde retail environments,” said Weisender. “We can make that parallel jump without any conflict between the lines.”