PUMA x Boris Becker – Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of his Wimbledon Win

In 1985, Becker became the youngest and first unseeded player ever to win Wimbledon and changed the game forever. PUMA hosted a press day and an intimate dinner with Boris Becker last Thursday in Wimbledon. Guests included editors and bloggers from key lifestyle media outlets and blogs.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Boris Becker's famous Wimbledon win, PUMA have released a series of animated films created by French illustrator, Ruben Gerard. The three films display Gerard’s retro-futurist and sculptural approach that accompany original commentary and sound bites from the match. Have a look at the first animated film below:

The film also highlights the Becker OG shoe that he wore, as well the PUMA Match, a style born on the court but now a lifestyle sneaker that showcases PUMA’s heritage of unmatched on-court glory and off-court style.

With his shoes, his underdog style, and those tube socks, Boris became bigger than the game itself. We can’t for the Becker OG shoe to hit our shores!

PUMA Tennis – A Heritage Of Performance And Innovation Through Design

For SS’15 PUMA looks to its Tennis archive to inspire its future and to celebrate the brand’s rich sports heritage of being Forever Faster.

Since 1948, PUMA has played the game its way and never stopped its pursuit of pushing sport forward. As a result, the brand’s archive is packed with over 65 years of records and trophies.

PUMA entered the tennis world soon after the company was established and launched its first professional tennis shoe, the Match, in the 60s. Some Match shoes were perforated for breathability. All saw records tumble.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, PUMA unleashed a flurry of performance enhancing tennis shoes: all white leather, occasional coloured Formstrips. They were high quality, made in Europe, tough to replicate and worn by the best athletes including Guillermo Villas, Martina Navratilova and of course Boris Becker.

The products were exactly what players needed for grand slam level play. And they quickly put PUMA at the top of its game. PUMA designers were considering human factors that other companies weren’t thinking of yet. Their heightened awareness of ergonomics helped them pioneer a new approach to footwear that allowed PUMA athletes to outlast the competition.

Adam Petrick (Brand Director) explains “PUMA's desire to be Forever Faster is long established. The brand's rich tennis heritage has seen some of the games most celebrated athletes stalk the baseline in their PUMA Tennis shoes. Whilst the innovations that helped PUMA redefine tennis product and performance throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s may have been eclipsed the timeless silhouettes continue to endure off-court.”

In 1985, PUMA signed a 17-year old German tennis player who went by the name of Boris Becker. What came next changed tennis forever, and has been part of PUMA folklore ever since. Becker became the youngest and first unseeded player ever to win Wimbledon. Resplendent in his signature PUMA mid tops and distinctive style of play Becker became bigger than the game itself.

In 2015, PUMA celebrates the 30th anniversary of this unprecedented win and the brand’s heritage of unmatched on-court glory and off-court style. This season, many styles filed under ‘firsts’ and ‘onlys’ are reissued. Some are altered. Some are authentic to a fault. The Match 74 is updated with added off-court appeal. Panels that were originally added to prevent players slipping on court now feature premium suede colour pops.

The PUMA Tennis collection is available in-store from February. You can shop the collection at: PUMA stores, Sportscene, Cross Trainer, Sneakers Bloemfontein and other selected retailers in South Africa.