Let’s Play: PUMA Launches RS-X Toys

Adding a mischievous twist to its RS-X range, the global sports brand PUMA has launched the all-new RS-X Toys sneaker, a design that celebrates a “reinvention of toys, in and beyond sneaker culture.”

When PUMA launched the RS-X sneaker this season, it was with “a totally new concept” in mind, built on the classic RS line of the 1980s. Back then, the original RS – short for “running system” – signaled PUMA’s high-quality cushioning and performance-oriented design. And the series included some of the most innovative, experimental, and technologically ambitious sneakers of its day: RS cushioning technology, for example, found itself on PUMA’s legendary 1986 RS-Computer Shoe, which was recording running data – up to six years’ worth – long before the smart phone occupied that territory. The new RS-X range takes this pioneering legacy to the “extreme,” exaggerating and remixing its already novel qualities.

“Embracing the future and honoring the past,” is PUMA’s self-described philosophy with this model, and the old school inspired silhouette is classically bulky, with a design inspired – surprisingly – by collectible vinyl figurines popularized decades ago, but which have made a recent come-back with collectors and Gen Z consumers alike. Decked with RS technology on the midsole, a mesh upper, leather overlays, an embossed textile heel piece, and a branded sockliner, the updated shoe is available in bold toystore colorways – a palette of Play-dough, crayon boxes, and Legos that effectively accents the RS with memories of the playthings and tools we used to model and draw our childhood dreams with. The result is a sneaker that is nostalgic for a retro future, and flirtatious with the digital age.

The Puma RS-X Toys sneaker is available now at Snipes.