Everything You Need To Know About The PUMA Brasil OG Trainer
The PUMA Brasil trainer is an OG suede silhouette that was originally released in celebration of the 1970 World Cup and endorsed by the Brazilian football legend, Pele.
Football in the 1970s was a prime example of the importance of sportswear endorsements fuelled by the Dassler brothers bitterly rivalry to battle it out for the top athletes. adidas & PUMA were at the top of their game, literally, as far as endorsement deals were concerned. adidas had bagged Franz Beckenbauer in the early 70s as their 3 stripes poster boy, a German football legend who won the World Cup in 1974 as well as the European Cup 3 times on the trot between '74 & '76. PUMA on the other hand had Pele, dubbed my many as one of the greatest footballers of all time, the Brazilian legend was apparently paid '120,000 just to tie his shoe laces in the 1970 World Cup, of which Brazil flamboyantly won. It wasn't just any old pair of football boots he was tying though, as the majority of the Brazil 1970 World Cup squad were wearing adidas boots, it was a pair of Pele's signature PUMA boots. The PUMA Pele partnership put the German sportswear brand on the world football stage like nothing before it. The deal didn't just stop as football boots though, there was also PUMA Pele tracksuits and the PUMA Brasil OG trainer, a classic gum sole training shoe that now arrives at its spiritual home. 
Above: The PUMA Pele partnership is probably up there as one of the greatest football endorsement deals of all time (Image credit: PUMA) Even though both the Dassler brothers sadly passed away in the 1970s, the football connection of both brands was probably like no other sport they were involved with. The PUMA Brasil trainer not only created another way PUMA could get their branding on the Brazilian football legend, but it was also pretty typical of the classic gum soled training shoes of the era. Before the whole sole technology revolution of the 1980s, gum soled silhouettes ruled the roost in the 1970s and the Brasil trainer was a fine example. First released in 1970 in celebration of the World Cup winner, the Brasil featured the South American nation's home colours of blue & yellow with suede uppers & a classic gum sole. Originally designed as a training shoe the Brasil takes us back to an era of retro football shirts, sticker books & classic 70s sportswear.
Above: The PUMA Brasil trainer in vivid blue/tangerine now available from 80s Casual Classics.
