A$AP Rocky’s latest Puma collaboration is here, and the rapper’s craziest shoe to-date is prominently featured in the drop.
Included in Thursday’s release is the new A$AP Rocky x Puma Mostro 3D, which made its first debut at the German athletic brand’s “Welcome to the Amazing Mostro Show” at New York Fashion Week in February.
The new style, which will release in tandem with two new distressed Inhale sneakers, brings Rocky’s “Grim” vision to light while merging the “Mostroverse,” the innovative Disc System, and the expanded world of Puma motorsport history.
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The new A$AP Rocky x Puma Mostro 3D utilizes Carbon Digital Light Synthesis (Carbon DLS), a resin-based 3D printing process that uses digital light projection, oxygen-permeable optics, and engineering-grade materials to produce data-driven, high-performance comfort, protection, and fashion products at scale through a global network of expert production partners.
Puma and Carbon’s 3D-printing process reimagines the recently revived archival sneaker as an alien slip-on. Spikes of varying sizes protrude throughout the perforated shoe, with a wider honey-comb pattern used around the ankle. The thicker spiked sole leaves a cavern at midfoot, and a spray paint-like finish gives the Mostro 3D its black and red look.
“The core of this shoe is about expanding the Mostroverse,” Jon Tang, Puma’s lead design of sportstyle footwear for ambassadors, told FN in an interview. “Even in this world of 3D printing, color hasn’t been talked about too much, or have been shown or pushed. That was one of the things we wanted to do especially with Rocky’s shoe collection.”
Tang said that Rocky first saw the 3D printed Mostro at the brand’s NYFW show in February and was eager to try his own version of the shoe. “That show was really where we began thinking about who the best person would be to help launch this, and Rocky was that person,” Tang added. “He loved the concept and we worked on how to tie in the distressing and colors of his Inhale sneaker models into the Mostro 3D.”
When it came down to color exploration, the team wanted to be sure it didn’t feel too perfect. “When developing the shoe, we thought about how to introduce a human element into something so inherently digital and perfect,” Tang added. “There is always that slight imperfection in something made via human workmanship and craftsmanship, so when it came down to our approach to color, not every shoe is the same, and for me that is the interesting part. It just humanized the project a bit more.”
But before Tang and Rock got this far, the development of the Mostro 3D started way back in 2022. According to Daniel Taylor, Puma’s director of design for sportstyle, the project found its spark in Japan while he was living in Tokyo.
“The conversation first started way back in July 2022 whilst I was living in Tokyo,” Taylor said. “I was reached out to on Instagram by Pek Shun Ping also known as ‘commeconception.’ At that time he was just launching his own 3D footwear brand called ‘ALIVEFORM.’ Turns out he also lived in Japan, so we met up in Harajuku to talk all things footwear but more specifically fully 3D printed innovations.
Speaking with Ping, Taylor said he was convinced it was time we started exploring the possibilities of fully 3D printed footwear. This led him to join forces with Puma’s creative director Heiko Desens and innovation team led by Romain Girard (Puma’s vice president of innovation) and Carly Mckenzie (Puma’s director of design innovation footwear) to explore the idea.
“As soon as we got the green light, myself, Ping and Alex Bloor (teamhead design of sportstyle footwear) got to work and began exploring just how far we could push 3D printing as medium both aesthetically and through functionality,” Taylor noted. “At that time, we were in the midst of building plans around the relaunch of the Mostro OG and the aesthetic was always so iconic for Puma. We envisaged this idea of the ‘Mostroverse’, a world in which the Mostro mutates into new forms and iterations depending on the type of form or environment we want it to exist in.”
Along the way, Taylor said the team created the notion of “emulating functional material properties” within the print itself. “Beyond cushioning, we innovated closure systems like stretchable lattice structures, 3D printed padding and more extreme concepts like 3D printed fur,” he said. “Surprisingly the product we released in the end was the tamest version of these, while the other iterations were more in the realms of science fiction. We even created 3D printed gloves just because we hadn’t seen that before and in the end, these became a statement accessory in the Puma Mostro NYFW show in Feb. 2024.”
“So in the end this project was as much about doing something we had never seen before than it was about doing another 3D printed shoe,” Taylor added. “We are a sports brand first and foremost, so it was crucial we explored functionality regardless of how aesthetically driven the project would be.”
Now with this new collection, the time has come to bring Puma’s 3D footwear to market. And as we’ve seen with his past campaigns, A$AP Rocky was hands-on throughout the entire creative process from product design to directing and styling the marketing campaign.
“It was about time that I put my own spin on some of the best footwear styles that Puma has to offer,” said A$AP Rocky. “People have been asking nonstop about the Mostro 3D since the fashion show so I’m excited to finally get them out. Then we also have the OG Inhale with hand-distressed fabric and custom embroidery/detailing, giving that worn look to tie into the rest of the apparel. I’m really happy with how these turned out and can’t wait for everyone to see what else we have been working on.”
The 9-piece A$AP Rocky x Puma collection is now available in the U.S. on Puma.com, as well as select retailers globally including Kith, Dover Street Market, Maxfield, Sneakersnstuff, SlamJam, Nubian and more.
