Ah, the ’80s! A time for Super Mario Bros, PACMAN and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; a time when Whitney Houston and Jon Bon Jovi ruled the airwaves and when PUMA’s RS stood for ‘Running System’. RS, the cushioning system that revolutionised PUMA’s sneakers, is back, and better than ever.
Presenting… The RS-X, where X stands for Xtreme. That’s right, bitchezzz, sh*t just got X-treme! And the best part is how they shared this news in India—with a sick event that basically felt like you were transported to the ’80s, but to celebrate the launch of the new and reinvented shoe. Now, if that’s not totally and completely Back To The Future-esque, tell me what is!
Karan Wahi, Warina Hussain, Harshvardhan Rane, Aayush Sharma, Neha Sharma, and Mouni Roy, all came to check out the coolest event that has hit the city yet and of course to have a kickass time with their favourite brand, PUMA. Take a peek at some of the celebrity sneakerheads that came down to Khar Social to kick it with PUMA and celebrate the RS Xtreme!
Warina Hussain at PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
Harshvardhan Rane at PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
Neha Sharma at PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
Karan Wahi at PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
Aayush Sharma at PUMA’s RS-X launch event
Mouni Roy at the PUMA RS-X event
Time Travelling Back To The Time Of Gen X
Is it just a coincidence the original shoe is from the 80s (Gen X) and the reinvented shoe is the RS-X? Or maybe the ‘X’ in Gen X stands for Xtreme, haha. Either way, this event was the best kind of rewind. After this weekend, we’re convinced that nostalgia is the best kind of feeling to invoke because there truly is nothing better than the time we were kids. And the best part is that even for Gen Z, who have no real experience with PAC-MAN, GI Joes or HOT Wheels, events like this are a great window into how the older half lived and why going retro is so cool these days!
Khar Social was basically expertly turned into a time warp space that had the look, feel and ultimate installations that really brought it back! From the moment you entered, till the time you left, the feeling that stayed with you was the “OMG, it’s XYZ!” Now just replace XYZ with Dance Dance Revolution, a PUMA PAC-MAN screen, a really cool HOT Wheels station, prepped with the full race track.
Just imagine, all these sneakerheads giddy with nostalgia, not knowing where to start! It was absolutely wild! The place was brimming with happiness and childlike levels of excitement.
PUMA mentioned that it was an experience-based event, which has multiple installations to wow our consumers. And wow, it absolutely did! Special
reinventions
by talented artists, Priyesh Trivedi, Nishant Fogaat, Tejas Nair & Aniruddh Mehta elevated the basic nostalgia to another level with the reinvention and reimagination of these childhood staples.
To make the vibe and the perfect setting, there was also obviously the best kind of music. I mean, how can you have a party without the right grooves, amirite? Priyesh Trivedi who is the creator of Adarsh Balak (another blast from the past!) reinvented and re-envisioned the 80s character with RS-X sneakers and this mad cool visual was projected behind the DJ console! Big Fat Minimalist and iamspryk aka Aniruddh and Tejas also made an audiovisual experience that was inspired by the RS-X sneakers and cranked out some sick Hip-Hop and Bass tunes!
While Nishant created a freakin’ cool gas mask, a cap and an eco-friendly tote bag-teddy—all from deconstructing the RS-X sneaker.
They even had a claw grabber to try and pick up either a HOT Wheels car or the HOT Wheels inspired shoe! If you don’t know what a claw grabber is, you’ll remember them from any carnival or amusement park, you’ve been to. You just never had a chance to win PUMA before.
But all this, from the arcade-like installations (we’re looking at you PACMAN & DDR), to the holographic lighting and LED tickers all around the venue, from the old-school TVs to the AR virtual reality GIF photo booth, all of it was specially choreographed for ultimately one thing: the shoes! And not just any shoe, the reinvention of the classic RS to the new and better-than-ever RSX series! What’s more, is that each shoe had a display created to match the inspiration of the shoe itself! Check them out!
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
PUMA’s RS-X Launch Event
The Coolest Kicks In B-Town
The original RS shoe was celebrated ‘coz of the then new Running System, but to make it relevant to this generation of sneakerheads. PUMA pulled out all the stops while keeping the core of what made the shoe special, intact. Everything from its bulky design and material mixes and bold colour palette, the RS-X series is exaggerated, bigger, better and is the extreme reinvention of Running System.
RS-X Reinvention
The RS-X Reinvention sneaker took the RS technology from the ’80s and turns it back on its head to create the RS-Xtreme. With its bulky design and bold colour palette, the clear star is extreme reinvention of a trusted favourite.
RS-X Toys
The design of the uber-colourful sneaker is inspired by those collectable toys that were a big feature of any millennial kid’s toy trunk and celebrates the reinvention of those toys.
RS-X Hot Wheels
Everyone knows Hot Wheels, right? In fact, I have a sneaky feeling that like me, you guys all have at least one Hot Wheels car that has survived to adulthood with you. I won’t be surprised if this one turns out to be the most popular shoe, tbh. The PUMA x Hot Wheels collaboration honors the ongoing reinvention of toys with three exclusive styles that are inspired by the three most iconic cars.
RS-X Trophies
Sleek and stylish, the RS-X Trophies is a design that pays tribute to the extreme reinvention of fame to match what we see today, in this age of social media star and YouTube celebrity.
But Really, What Is RS?
Back in 1986, PUMA launched the PUMA RS 100 that used this revolutionary cushioning technology developed by them to create a comfortable and efficient running shoe to combat the rise in demand for them considering many people started getting into running in the ’80s. Soon after came the RS-350 and finally, they were so ahead of the game that they used the same RS technology to create the RS Computer, a first-of-its-kind tech-enabled shoe that had a computer chip that recorded time, distance and calories burned. Note that this was aeons before the FitBits and Apple watches of the world.
How’s that for some sneakerhead trivia? Pretty mind-blowing, isn’t it?
And there you have it! The coolest kicks in town are here. With the cool factor of the ’80s and the tech advancements of the future, there is no doubt that the RS-X series is where it’s at! PUMA obviously already knew this, but they just had the raddest event in town to simply drive the point home. Now go! Check them out BY clicking here and have a little nostalgia trip of your own! You won’t be sorry you did! Trust us!
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This post is in partnership with PUMA.