PRESS RELEASE: PUMA Collaborates with Premier Online Lifestyle Magazine – HYPERBEAST

Sportlifestyle brand PUMA has partnered with online lifestyle magazine Hypebeast to launch the PUMA x Hypebeast ‘Dim Sum’ Pack.  Teaming up together for the first time, this highly anticipated collaboration is an exclusive double release celebrating one of PUMA’s most popular and respected silhouettes:  the Blaze of Glory.  The PUMA x HB ‘Siu Mai’ Blaze of Glory OG and ‘Har Gao’ Blaze of Glory LTWT releases on May 8^th, 2013 in Hong Kong.  This pack will later release at selected sneaker boutiques across the globe on May 17^th, 2013.

Based in Hong Kong, Hypebeast is considered one of the premier online destinations for editorially driven commerce and news.  They span styles and brands, from streetwear to cotemporary and high-end fashion, and from the grassroots to the well known and established.  The Hypebeast editorial team continuously strives to make a positive contribution to the online medium and offer their readers unique content and insight to the industry’s most influential leaders.

States Eugene Kan, Hypebeast’s Managerial Editor, “We are actively trying to balance reporting versus creating news, which has been much more rewarding.  It is not always about being the first to ‘break’ the news but more so about telling the best story.”

Dim Sum translates to mean ‘touch the heart’ and is the core of Hong Kong’s culinary culture and local lifestyle.  When the opportunity was presented to Hypebeast to join forces with PUMA, it was the ‘heart’ of their city they sought to represent.  Based on food for thought and linking city and culture, Hypebeast created a unique take on a classic PUMA silhouette using elements widely known and cherished in making Dim Sum:  Siu Mai and Har Gao, to inspire this release. 

“Seeing as this was a release themed around our city, food itself is a huge part of the local Hong Kong landscape,” describes Kan.  “I’ve been really interested in the conceptualization and execution of food, as well as its importance within culture.  Dim Sum in itself is such an institution, it was a no brainer to pick it!  It was only fitting that we set about trying to apply these inspirations to footwear.”     

The PUMA Blaze of Glory is a shoe that hit the ground running in the 1990s and built its credibility through PUMA’s Trinomic technology.  The PUMA x HB ‘Siu Mai’ Blaze of Glory OG is outfitted in a luxurious yellow leather and suede upper, referencing the yellow wrap of Siu Mai dumplings.  The shoe is highlighted by a cushionCELL midsole in white and rounded out by a neoprene boot for fit and comfort.  The PUMA x HB ‘Har Gao’ Blaze of Glory LTWT is light in weight and more flexible than the OG with a PUMA FAAS 250 midsole, and features a minimalistic upper with a unique translucent shrimp camouflage pattern.  Each pair of sneakers is made to be available in a dust bag that mimics the motif of a bamboo steamer, similar in style to the basket Dim Sum is generally served in.