PUMA is a renowned German based company specializing in sports clothing, football apparel, track suits and jump suits. Founded in 1948, the company is one of the oldest shoe manufacturing companies in the world. Started by brothers Rudolph Dassler and Adolf Dassler, the company had very humble beginnings at the back of their house in a war ravaged Germany. During the 1936 Olympic Games, Adolf Dassler convinced sprinter Jesse Owens to wear spikes on the bottom of his shoes. The rest was history: Jesse Owens won four gold medals, and hence the Dassler shoes became known worldwide. However, the brothers split for good following increasing differences between them. Adolf founded his own company adidas, while Rudolph founded RuDa. Later Rudolph renamed his company PUMA and started sponsoring German footballers from the national football team. With superior quality and performance, PUMA shoes became the preferred brand among the sports fraternity across the world. Since then, the company has grown exponentially with ever increasing profits. They have shops in almost every country in the world. Over the years, the company has sponsored numerous football teams, thousands of players and several other sports players across the globe.
Today, the company designs and manufactures shoes for all kinds of sports such as basketball, football, running, tennis and golf. The company sponsors in all the major sports events including the FIFA World Cup. To date, PUMA has sponsored legendry football players like Pelé, Diego Maradona, Enzo Francescoli, Lothar Matthäus and Johan Cruijff. They are the chief sponsors for the Formula 1 teams and even sell apparel for the PUMA–BMW and PUMA–Ferrari series.
The company also provides a range of sports apparel and shoes for women. Apart from shoes and clothing, PUMA also makes bikes and bike gear under the name UM. The company has a distribution network spread over 80 countries. The most recent release from the company is a line of uniforms made using laser sewn technology. Some of the accessories by PUMA comprise PUMA Rugby Gloves, the PUMA Tooth Track Jacket, the PUMA Shoulder Stripe Track Jacket, the PUMA Cat Pants Open Bottom and the PUMA Linden Stretch-fit Cap. The wide range of PUMA clothing, shoes and accessories is available at leading shoe stores across the world. Apart from these, they have a sports fashion collection by Alexander McQueen, Yasuhiro Mihara, Philippe Starck, fashion designer Neil Barrett and model Christy Turlington. Their lifestyle products include eyewear and fragrances.
|
