Despite Being "Mid," the Coolest Sneaker of 2024 Is Literally Bigger Than Ever
PUMA's Speedcat sneaker is mid. And by "mid," I mean that it's now a mid-top shoe. What did you think I meant?
Yes, PUMA had a terrific 2024, dropping a series of swiftly sold-out sneakers in quick succession. Everything it touched turned to gold: Even the PUMA shoes that had no business being as good as they were ended up pretty great.
And the obvious highlight of a strong year was PUMA's Speedcat, a rebirthed low-top shoe that raced its way past all comers, including buzzy sneakers like adidas' SL72 and Samba, the latter a direct challenger that fell to the Speedcat (in certain circles, at least).
PUMA patiently iterated upon the Speedcat throughout 2024, dropping new colorways with relative infrequency to stoke the flames of hype and keep the heat on its hot sneaker.
In late 2024, it quietly rolled out a tall new iteration of the Speedcat, another easy-on shoe that's both a mid-top and super flat at the same time.
This is the Speedcat Mid, a beautifully imbalanced shoe that falls very much in line with the current zeal for boxing-style sneakers.
Personally, I find this stuff unreliable — low-top shoes typically prove more popular than high- or mid-top shoes due to their stylistic versatility — but PUMA's Speedcat is hot enough to earn some buzz.
For now, the $120 shoe is currently still available on PUMA's website and from select stockists in limited colorways, so perhaps a few new makeups will roll out to build buzz. PUMA's got the momentum going into 2025 — it just has to keep it going.
