House of Hackney and Puma’s recent collaboration aimed at coming up with the industry’s most authentic unconventional sports wear had Braamfontein’s Juta street buzzing with people aching to sneak a peek into the window of the Puma Select store.
They threw a little get together for their prospective clientele this past weekend to showcase their designs at one of the only two Puma Select stores in the world – yes, no typo there.
House of Hackney is a British brand owned by husband and wife duo Javey M. Royle and Frieda Gormley. The label has been around for two years and these guys are fuelled by a desire to take the old fashioned ‘beige out of interiors’ and add their own flavour. I wasn’t sure what that meant so I spoke to Mpumi Mfula – also known as Frypan – the manager of the store.
“The two are on a mission to create something modern through juxtaposition and clashing”, stated Frypan.
Just to clarify, I don’t understand designer jargon so it felt like a bit of a mind f*ck until I hooked up with him again and asked him to explain it further.
“These guys are doing an awesome job of taking interior designing to the next level. They use the material you’d see on walls like the floral suede pattern and implement it on shoes and everything else they design”, he said.
As I was standing there trying to envision what he was describing, he swiftly grabbed a book that was laying next to a flashy pink floral sneaker to show me reference images. The book was compiled by Puma and showcases all the collabo’s they have been a part of thus far. Previous designers/collaborators include the likes of BWGH and Sophia Chang, just to name a few. Flicking through the book as he pointed out the images, it all became clearer.
While people were tweeting the official hashtag #PumaSelectJozi in order to earn themselves a beer and pie (the joys of the braam life) – I took time out to browse through the store and flirt with some of the designs through my camera.
click through the gallery to see some of their designs.
Words & Photography: @Thy_Black_Hippy
