Interview : Nofaithstudios on building with Puma — inside the collaboration

NO/FAITH STUDIOS & Puma present their second collaboration on an iconic model : the Beisser. In this context, we spoke with Luis, founder of NO/FAITH STUDIOS, and his older brother Leon, who handles all the operational side. Enjoy the read.

Kolroy : Can you both introduce yourselves ?

Luis (NFS) : Yes, so I’m Luis, the founder of NO/FAITH STUDIOS. I founded the brand in 2016, and that’s it, haha.

Leon (NFS) : I’m his older brother Leon. I’ve been handling the operational management for Nofaith for about five years now.

Kolroy : And the brand is from ?

Luis : Germany, Cologne.

Nofaithstudios fitting

Kolroy : So before we talk about the new Puma Beisser that you designed, I’d like to go back to the beginning of your connection with Puma. How did the very first contact with the brand happen ?

Leon : I think the first contact was about three years ago… no actually maybe two years ago. We met someone in Berlin who doesn’t work at Puma anymore. We connected through that person, and then we had our first call via Zoom. They really liked NO/FAITH. Very quickly we went to Herzogenaurach for the first time, to the headquarters. They showed us everything, the whole history of Puma, the office, and we also went through the archives.

Puma Archives (Source : inside.tag)

We were in the archives for two days looking through everything, because from the beginning they said that we could maybe make a product together, not just meet because they liked NO/FAITH. After that meeting we were also pretty sure that we wanted to work together, because the team is super nice, everyone was really friendly, and we also liked the identity of Puma. We really liked the overall vibe of the whole company.

"Beginning of the 2000s they had great collaborations with Alexander McQueen, and you had the Kugelblitz"

Kolroy : You previously collaborated on the Puma Talon, an archive silhouette from 2004, and now on the Beisser from 2005, also pulled from the archives. Why focus specifically on Puma’s archival models ?

Luis : I think it’s because the silhouettes they did in the early 2000s are much more interesting and fit our brand better. Also at the beginning of the 2000s they had great collaborations with Alexander McQueen, and you had the Kugelblitz, which is also an iconic shoe that we would maybe like to work on one day if they allow us. I think it’s really about the silhouettes.

Nowadays I feel like they don’t experiment as much as they did back in the early 2000s, and I think a brand like NO/FAITH fits more with the aesthetic from that time.

Puma Kugelblitz (Source : knudpeters.shop)

Kolroy : Yes, back then designers at Puma really went crazy with some insane designs.

Luis : Also the fabrics they used were very nice. They tried a lot of different colors. When you see the original Beisser in the yellow colorway, the yellow and brown combination is amazing to me. Nowadays I think sportswear should bring back more of those funky colors.

Puma Beisser OG

"I think it was when we went through the archives. We saw the shoe and it was our first choice to work on the Beisser"

Puma Beisser x NFS

Kolroy : Personally the Beisser is maybe one of my favorite Puma models. I’m curious to know why you chose to work on this specific silhouette. Why this particular colorway and design direction ? Could you walk us through the creative process behind it ?

Luis : I think it was when we went through the archives. We saw the shoe and it was our first choice to work on the Beisser. But of course you can’t just go to Herzogenaurach and immediately work on that if you’ve never done a collaboration before. So we needed to make the Talon first and get approval from Puma before doing the Beisser. They saw that the Talon worked very well with us, so we went directly for the Beisser. It’s also one of our favorite models from Puma.

Leon : I think also with the way you worked on the Talon, you went much crazier with the collaboration because you changed a lot of the original model.

Luis : Yes, we changed the whole upper. We basically wanted to create a new shoe. With the Beisser, the sole is already so aggressive, and we still wanted to keep it wearable. So we went for a nice brown colorway with a kind of cracked leather effect on the toe box and the tongue. We chose a nice material and kept a very clean colorway instead of going too crazy, because I think the sole already speaks for itself.

Leon : And also the Beisser usually looks very sporty with the mesh versions that Puma normally does. By giving it a full leather upper it makes it feel much more luxurious, you know what I mean. It elevates the shoe.

Kolroy : Yes I can see that, and the treatment feels like something from the archives with that worn effect. I really like it.

"I think it’s also amazing that Puma gave us the freedom to do that on the Talon"

Kolroy : You have now revisited the Talon from 2004 and the Beisser from 2005. Is there already another project in the works, maybe something from 2006 ?

Luis : Right now we’re just talking with the guys and seeing what’s possible. Of course we hope to do another pair. But if we do another one it should be something different, something more crazy, not something basic. I feel like a lot of collaborations become too commercial at some point, and that’s something we don’t want to do. We want to stick to our identity and bring that NO/FAITH vibe to Puma.

Kolroy : Yes, it’s true. There are so many collaborations right now, sometimes it’s just a new colorway and you can wonder if it’s really necessary. But what you did with the Talon is a good example of a collaboration. You can take an archive model and completely transform it like you did.

Puma Talon x NFS (F&F)

Luis : Yes, and I think it’s also amazing that Puma gave us the freedom to do that on the Talon. I can imagine that if you go to another sports company and you want to design a shoe, it usually has to stay very close to an existing model. You can’t completely change the upper. The guys at Puma really gave us that crazy freedom, which is amazing.

Puma x NFS Talon

Leon : And also they gave us the Talon and the Beisser, not just the regular models that everyone collaborates on. They were really like : “Okay, you’re the only ones who will do the Talon and the only ones who will do the Beisser.”

From our side we were probably the only ones who wanted to go that crazy with it. For us it was more like a passion project rather than thinking “If we take this model we can sell 50,000 pairs.” That wouldn’t make sense for us.

Puma also said that we chose some of the hardest models to work on.

Everyone : *Laughs

Kolroy : So your next goal would maybe be to create a completely new silhouette. That’s probably one of the most complicated things in design.

Luis : For me that would be the dream, to start from zero. But I don’t know… haha.

Kolroy : It’s very expensive too.

Luis : Yes, because you need to open a mold. We are also producing shoes ourselves right now, and when it comes to soles it’s really hard to make these kinds of molds. It’s not an easy process.

Kolroy : You go to Italy to produce your shoes ?

Luis & Leon : Yes.

Kolroy : You don’t really do sneakers though, right ? It’s more dressed-up footwear.

Luis: Yes, it’s more like leather boots.

NFS Boxing Combat Boots

"The way Puma approaches collaborations is interesting. They don’t only go for the biggest names"

Kolroy : What do you think about Puma’s evolution today ? Five years ago Puma was very different.

Luis : Yes.

Kolroy : Especially the way the brand is multiplying collaborations and increasingly bringing back its archives.

Luis : I think the image of Puma has changed a lot. You can see that they want to be cool for the youth and the new generation. Also the fact that they collaborate with A$AP Rocky. When we went to the Puma House Party, a rapper like Fake Mink was there, and at the pop-up you could really see the new generation showing up.

Asap Rocky & Fake Mink for Puma

Luis : They are very interested in connecting with the younger generation. At the same time Puma is bringing back shoes from the archives because 2000s silhouettes are trendy right now. They realized that they have all these amazing shoes in the archives, so bringing them back is a good choice.

Puma Beisser, Puma RPT-2, Puma Klim, Puma Talon, Puma Mostro, Puma Mostro Flex

Leon : I also think the way Puma approaches collaborations is interesting. They don’t only go for the biggest names. They also work with many smaller, younger designers who are niche and respected within the scene. They’re not necessarily the new face of Puma, but within the fashion industry or the underground bubble they’re very well known. They prefer working with those people instead of just going to the biggest companies that could sell a million pairs.

Luis : Yes, I think that’s what they do really well. They have the big names like A$AP Rocky, but they also choose people like us who represent the new generation, or designers like JiyongKim. I think that’s amazing.

Puma x JiyongKim

Leon : And I think that’s also why Puma became so cool again in the mainstream. First the fashion scene in places like Paris pushed Puma because of all these collaborations that people love. Then you have the trickle-down effect and it reaches everyone with models like the Speedcat or the Mostro. That’s how you build hype and momentum. You work with tastemakers first and then it grows bigger and bigger.

I think Puma has really nice people who know what they’re doing and know who to call if they want to create something special that nobody else has.

"We’re a young team and we work in a pretty chaotic way, which is different from a big company like Puma"

Luis : For me they are the nicest people to work with.

Leon : Yeah, yeah.

Luis : It feels like a family. It’s not like “we need to work on something now.” It’s more like we all come together, talk about it, and build something in a nice atmosphere.

Kolroy : When you work with them, do you go with the whole team to Nuremberg ?

Luis : We went there, but they also came to our studio in Paris. We also had a studio in Berlin where we did some design sessions. For the Beisser, we actually chose some of the colorways there in Berlin.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/42643d_962c430330a84e26b0358bdc2fa8cd78/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Leon : We’re a young team and we work in a pretty chaotic way, which is different from a big company like Puma. But everyone at Puma has been very respectful and understanding of the way we work. Sometimes things go a bit up and down and we don’t always deliver exactly on the timeline they would like.

But in the end the final result is what matters. So far everything has worked out really well, and I think the Beisser release will also go perfectly. We’re really happy to work with them.