DIY upcycling specialist Nicole McLaughlin is adding to her portfolio of pouch-equipped sneaker collaborations with a new Puma project set to be released soon.
Teased Friday by McLaughlin on social media, the designer’s Puma Suede “Sweep the Factory Floor” collab combines randomized swatches of colorful suede material for one-of-a-kind patchwork looks. McLaughlin’s design of the iconic 1960s Puma sneaker includes a (presumably removable) button pouch atop the laces which is fashioned in the same multicolor suede construction. “Nm” branding at the heel denotes it as a McLaughlin collaboration, and the designer’s name is also printed on the insole.
Puma’s partnership manager of global collaborations, Ferdinand Krug, chimed in with further context. “Made of factory scraps. Every shoe’s different,” Krug wrote on Instagram.
Similar “cutting room floor” concepts have been executed on sneakers in the past. New Balance has been a proponent of the manufacturing method, with limited-edition models such as the Test Run 3.0 and various Jaden Smith collaborations making use of surplus materials. In 2023, Asics celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Gel-Lyte 5 by releasing “Re: Collaboration” and “Re: Material” versions of the model, although those pairs used the idea as inspiration rather than actually repurposing salvaged materials.
As for McLaughlin, the designer’s upcoming Puma Suede collaboration stays true to the sustainable ethos she’s established and has been in the making for quite some time. In June ’23, McLaughlin was featured in a video for Global Fashion Agenda’s Designer Challenge.
“The challenge that Puma and I are trying to solve is how to create an upcycled shoe at scale,” McLaughlin said. “This is something that I haven’t seen done at least very often or maybe done to the best extent that it could possibly be.”
The Nicole McLaughlin x Puma Suede “Sweep the Factory Floor” collaboration is expected to be made available soon, although an exact release date and price point were not confirmed.
