Skater Lucas Puig’s New Adidas Sneakers Are Built for Chilling, Not Shredding
If you don’t know anything about Lucas Puig, the French skater who rides for Palace and Adidas (among other brands), the first thing to understand is that the 34-year-old has a masterful approach to turning any given cityscape into a skateable playground. The second thing to keep in mind is that for Puig, the cityscape most often encountered is Biarritz, a seaside town on the Basque coast in southwestern France. He surfs, too, because if you’re a talented skater living right next to the water in a picturesque part of the world, well…you surf.
Related Stories
Oliver Peoples & Frère Made Your New Go-To Shades
26 Pairs of Shorts to Keep You Cool This Summer
An Ode to the Knockaround Shoe
You need to know these little tidbits about Puig because they help explain the thought process that informed his latest sneaker with Adidas. It’s a riff on his signature style made from Primeblue, a recycled material that incorporates Parley Ocean Plastic, which is upcycled plastic waste recovered from shores and oceans. A skater living by the sea, dipping into it to surf on the regular? No wonder he’s not a fan of the way we’re polluting the world’s water with more and more plastic refuse.
“As we all know, plastic is a terrible problem for our planet,” Puig says. “It was logical for me to use the amazing technology that Adidas has developed with Parley [in these new shoes].” The push for sustainability, though, did come with a flipside. “This shoe is definitely not for skating. The Primeknit upper is fragile, as all the runner shoes are, but you can definitely crack an ollie if you have to! The purpose of this shoe is more of a comfy and lightweight shoe to chill in.”
Puig Primeknit Primeblue Shoes
Adidas
adidas.com
$110.00
SHOP NOW
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of thought behind how the shoes would perform on a board in a pinch, though. “With every product we make I think the biggest challenge we face is ensuring we strike the right balance between performance and style,” says Ryan Case, Adidas Skateboarding’s director of product. “Does the shoe meet the needs of our team while still appealing to our core consumers? What Lucas needs may not be what a kid just learning to skate wants. So we need to be spot-on with that balance.” Hence a shoe built for hanging out that can also withstand the occasional ollie.
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
Really though, the point of these shoes is to push for a more planet-friendly way of making things. “With this shoe in particular, we wanted to make sure we had a strong sustainability component. That was key,” says Case. “That’s something that’s super important to Lucas and to the brand. We see our co-creation with him as an opportunity to elevate and increase our sustainability efforts. He cares deeply about the ocean and our planet. We wanted to make sure this shoe combined everything he wants and needs with our brand aspirations and priorities.”
Plus, it just looks cool. “As the colorway is white, it’s pretty easy to wear, fitting with every kind of style,” says Puig. “I like wearing it with shorts cause the shoe is pointy. It looks sick!”
Jonathan Evans
Jonathan Evans is the style director of Esquire, covering all things fashion, grooming, accessories, and, of course, sneakers.
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io