REVEALED: THE SHOES THEY NEVER WANTED YOU TO SEE
We’re Smashing Open The Vaults Of Secrecy And Let The Public Be The Judge
September 11, 2025
For decades, sports brands have completely hidden their experimental shoes from the public. Instead they’ve been locked away in labs, shown only to elite athletes, and buried under so many layers of intense secrecy you could be forgiven for thinking they were nuclear launch codes. But all of this is about to change. For now, for the first time ever in sportswear history, PUMA is breaking the seal in Tokyo this Autumn.
There, in the Japanese capital in September, PUMA will tear up the unwritten rule book and hand over to the public one of its most closely guarded secrets — concept shoes that were never even meant for sale!
There, in the Japanese capital in September, PUMA will tear up the unwritten rule book and hand over to the public one of its most closely guarded secrets — concept shoes that were never even meant for sale!
PUMA’s Vice President BU Run/Train, Erin Longin, manages strategy & product creation. But she is also the key spokesperson for PUMA’s “Future of Fast” in Tokyo, where these ground-breaking experimental concepts will be revealed.
Speaking from her office in Boston, she said: “We’ve always been supporters of the track and field space. But it’s more than that. We see track and field as the top of the pyramid — you know, it really is the pinnacle when it comes to the world of running. Track and field gives us a unique and powerful platform for innovation, and that’s exactly what we are exploiting here.”
Specifically, we’re now taking the plunge and, for the very first time, we’re directly inviting the public to try out the exact same shoes that would normally never even leave the lab.
“The shoes are concept pieces, engineered as pure performance experiments. But instead of just keeping everything under wraps, we are totally breaking the mould, and we’re going to release them in the full glare of the world’s biggest athletics stage.”
As part of the set-up in Tokyo, PUMA will have a treadmill hamster-wheel rig, allowing visitors to test not just how they feel walking around a shoe store, but how they really feel when running.
“This means visitors will literally step into our R&D and feel what usually only athletes and engineers get to experience,” says Erin.
“Our innovation team is always developing concept cars… we just never show people,” she said.
As part of the set-up in Tokyo, PUMA will have a treadmill hamster-wheel rig, allowing visitors to test not just how they feel walking around a shoe store, but how they really feel when running.
“This means visitors will literally step into our R&D and feel what usually only athletes and engineers get to experience,” says Erin.
“Our innovation team is always developing concept cars… we just never show people,” she said.
“For the first time ever, we’re opening the doors to that and we’re showcasing how PUMA innovates.”
At the heart of all this, says Erin, is the ‘Future of Fast’ concept, which her team will be bringing to Tokyo.
This means exploring how PUMA as a brand is redefining what speed is, what its boundaries are, and how far they can be pushed – but this time doing so with the public.
“Instead of keeping the public and the visitors deliberately out of the process and wrapping it all in secrecy, as has always been the case, we are now flipping the script completely. We are involving the public, and showing them we really value their input on what makes a great shoe for them.”
At the heart of all this, says Erin, is the ‘Future of Fast’ concept, which her team will be bringing to Tokyo.
This means exploring how PUMA as a brand is redefining what speed is, what its boundaries are, and how far they can be pushed – but this time doing so with the public.
“Instead of keeping the public and the visitors deliberately out of the process and wrapping it all in secrecy, as has always been the case, we are now flipping the script completely. We are involving the public, and showing them we really value their input on what makes a great shoe for them.”
It sometimes feels like an attempt to fuse two incompatible worlds — that of a carnival and a biomechanics lab.
In terms of a carnival, PUMA certainly has lots to celebrate, not least the number of gold medals its sponsored athletes have already won.
In terms of a carnival, PUMA certainly has lots to celebrate, not least the number of gold medals its sponsored athletes have already won.
PUMA’s athletes are winning gold medals and we’re hoping they will continue to achieve greatness and reach their goals at Tokyo,says Erin.
“We typically have a lot of medal winners on the podiums in our events, so we’re hoping to have that happen again for them, as we have an amazing portfolio of athletes. I think we have over 140 athletes competing in the championship. So we’ll have a really great brand presence on the track and field.”
But far from the drama and excitement of the running field, the race track, or even the visitor’s hamster wheel, is the mysterious but equally essential world of the laboratory.
Deep in what has so far been a secret realm, and without chance to revel in the glory of roaring stadium crowds — countless experts are also putting in countless hours as they make extraordinary efforts to help achieve the very same goal as the athletes – the goal of pushing the boundaries of speed.
“PUMA sees track and field as the purest test. The world record in the sprint is under 10 seconds, so the intensity is enormous,” reveals Erin.
“But if footwear can endure the massive pressure of a sub-ten-second sprint or of a pole-vault take-off, it can survive anything.
But far from the drama and excitement of the running field, the race track, or even the visitor’s hamster wheel, is the mysterious but equally essential world of the laboratory.
Deep in what has so far been a secret realm, and without chance to revel in the glory of roaring stadium crowds — countless experts are also putting in countless hours as they make extraordinary efforts to help achieve the very same goal as the athletes – the goal of pushing the boundaries of speed.
“PUMA sees track and field as the purest test. The world record in the sprint is under 10 seconds, so the intensity is enormous,” reveals Erin.
“But if footwear can endure the massive pressure of a sub-ten-second sprint or of a pole-vault take-off, it can survive anything.
But you only find this out by taking risks, experimenting and testing — and that’s exactly what we are doing, testing out all sorts of conditions and seeing how our unique foam in our shoes reacts to them.”
“For us, Tokyo gives us a platform for innovation, because we can work directly with athletes to understand their needs, and it helps us innovate across all of running.”
“Its so great that now fans have the opportunity to be directly involved, and even running the process themselves. In this way there’s now going to be a kind of direct line running straight from the production floor to championship foyer!”
PUMA athletes have already been directly involved in the development of these shoes in recent years, even travelling to designated factories in Vietnam to help, for example.
But now those same concepts, developed and honed in these factories, will be strapped onto public feet in Japan — and now, with the whole world watching, they will be tested out. And so ground-breaking is this concept, it will even make other supposedly ‘forward-thinking’ concepts look almost ancient.
“For us, Tokyo gives us a platform for innovation, because we can work directly with athletes to understand their needs, and it helps us innovate across all of running.”
“Its so great that now fans have the opportunity to be directly involved, and even running the process themselves. In this way there’s now going to be a kind of direct line running straight from the production floor to championship foyer!”
PUMA athletes have already been directly involved in the development of these shoes in recent years, even travelling to designated factories in Vietnam to help, for example.
But now those same concepts, developed and honed in these factories, will be strapped onto public feet in Japan — and now, with the whole world watching, they will be tested out. And so ground-breaking is this concept, it will even make other supposedly ‘forward-thinking’ concepts look almost ancient.
“It’s all about learning. Experimenting. Testing. And learning from what happens. And this involves being bolder and taking risks.”
“We have in the past seen brands create 3D-printed models of ideas, but they’re essentially art projects… you just walk through and you look at it.”“So we decided to turn this completely on its head. We wanted to be quite different — not just having imaginative ideas, but also having actual product and technology, and by actually letting people really experience it, not just talk about it as an abstract idea.”
“This is about concept-car innovations: extreme prototypes built to push limits, not to be commercialised. And this is the very first non-commercial event of its kind, opened to public feet during a global championship.”
But in a world of social media madness, where embarrassing slip-ups become hilarious video entertainment for millions in a matter of mere seconds, most corporate marketing experts are hyper-vigilant, even paranoid about providing any opportunity which might expose their company to criticism – and especially not ridicule.
For Erin, however, PUMA’s decision to embrace transparency at Tokyo is far from a recipe for a PR catastrophe.
“Okay, so our framing of the event is maybe rather bold, but that is because the risks are bolder than ever. Concept pieces are simply uncompromising as they are often tuned for one discipline rather than comfort. They may not even last a week of pounding.”
“But instead of letting us be frightened by this, we are embracing it as a learning experience. We are showing everything to the world — which invites instant judgement, and instant video.”
For Erin, however, PUMA’s decision to embrace transparency at Tokyo is far from a recipe for a PR catastrophe.
“Okay, so our framing of the event is maybe rather bold, but that is because the risks are bolder than ever. Concept pieces are simply uncompromising as they are often tuned for one discipline rather than comfort. They may not even last a week of pounding.”
“But instead of letting us be frightened by this, we are embracing it as a learning experience. We are showing everything to the world — which invites instant judgement, and instant video.”
“True — sometimes it may not go the way we want it to. A tiny grimace with someone wearing one of our shoes could go viral in seconds. But so could awe. So a fan stepping off a treadmill, wide-eyed, grinning — this is priceless.”
All this comes at a time when competition could not be more fierce. Right now brands are locked in an race for foams, plates and “feel” that is so overwhelmingly fierce that the safest play seems to be secrecy until perfection.
But this time PUMA, though significantly smaller than its mainstream rivals, is arguing the exact opposite — that openness beats mystique.
“Spectators usually stay outside the performance bubble. But at Tokyo, visitors won’t just buy merchandise.
But this time PUMA, though significantly smaller than its mainstream rivals, is arguing the exact opposite — that openness beats mystique.
“Spectators usually stay outside the performance bubble. But at Tokyo, visitors won’t just buy merchandise.
They’ll learn what rebound feels like at pace, how take-off changes with foam compression. They’ll leave saying not ‘I saw’ but ‘I felt.’”
“For example, we launched an amazing product — the Fast-R 3 — and that is the fastest running shoe on the market. And we have all of the testing to prove that, both internal and external studies. So 2025 has been a turning point of innovation.
“And now Tokyo is meant to reinforce that and push it even further, by showcasing never-seen-before concepts. So we are here to test boundaries, to test extremes, and not just make sales.”
“For example, we launched an amazing product — the Fast-R 3 — and that is the fastest running shoe on the market. And we have all of the testing to prove that, both internal and external studies. So 2025 has been a turning point of innovation.
“And now Tokyo is meant to reinforce that and push it even further, by showcasing never-seen-before concepts. So we are here to test boundaries, to test extremes, and not just make sales.”
“And of course what allows us to do all of this is the NITRO foam — which is really our backbone: premium materials, constant iteration, the secret sauce across spikes and road shoes.”
“It’s just wonderful, and it is what all of our competitors want. And when it comes to the formula — perhaps the only thing we are still choosing to keep secret and be silent about these days.”
Erin Longin @ The Nitro Lab Tokyo
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