Puma Bespoke Range Hits
Oki Ni has by all accounts been ringing the changes of late , it’s showcase store on Savile Row closing , re-jigging it’s brands and updating the look of their website . All of this has seen Oki Ni step away from the spotlight as far as sneakers are concerned , but now with Puma as it’s new stable mate , the first of it’s colaborations is about to launch . Last night I visited Oki Ni ‘s latest offering at their guerilla store for the launch party , where I got to see the new products and meet some of the people behind this new partnership .

The Bespoke Range , an 18 month project in the making , shows Oki Ni visit the realms of the Puma Archive and return to it’s Savile Row roots , a street synonymous with tailor made-to-measure clothing of the highest quality .

8 items make up the range , 4 kicks , 1 track , 1 hoodie and 2 caps , which tie traditional producers with modern street fashion . Each piece , limited to a production run of only 100 , will be available online from today and at Oki Ni ‘s pop-up shop here in London’s Little Portland Street from 27th September to 6th October .
The Sneaks
It would n’t be a Puma Archive release without a Clyde in the line up and this range is no different with The Clyde Brogue putting an unusual twist on this iconic trainer , the upper is where we see the tradition break from the norm . Sitting on the Clyde silhouette sole , Goodyear Welted shoe maker Loake have hand made each shoe in the finest materials and with an attention to detail that is normally associated to high end footwear . The leather , cut , punched and sewn by hand is then finished with a combination of burnishing , antique dressing and hand polishing . The detailing follows on with a heavy duty shoe box and branded felt individual shoe bags . Purists will no doubt look at this kick thinking , is it a shoe or is it a trainer ? on reflection I’m still undecided on this one and how well it will be recieved , but one thing is for sure , with the £180 price tag , they won’t be for everyone .

The Savile Row Stepper is made from suiting materials from family run quality cloth supplier H.Lesser & Sons . The Stepper , originally released in 1984 for one year until it’s recent appearance last year as a re-issue was a mid cut version of the Clyde . The shoe features a wool pinstripe upper , calico formstripe and hand tailored stitching . The feel of this shoe is superb and really has to be seen in the flesh . With the cloth weather treated , this is not a summer only kick and with a £100 tag price , won’t break the bank either .

The last two kicks are my pick of the range . The Prince of Wales Liga , originally an indoor football shoe , gets the make over of an upper made from the finest Prince of Wales check fabric , keeping the shoe light in weight and subtle in colour . These work for me because of the blue and red detailing on each shoe which is then married over with a set of matching laces . A really nice shoe and when you see and feel the shoe you get that touch of quality the this range was trying to achieve . Both Liga’s will be retailing at £100 , a price worth paying ? IMO yes , quality materials and a limited run hit the spot .

The Apparel
Oki Ni have chosen both a track top and hoodie to run with the range . The Puma Archive T7 Track Top follows on from the kicks in using materials sourced from H.Lesser & Sons . The wool twill cloth sits well on this track - the T7 was the first piece of apparel produced by Puma in 1969 as a warm up jacket for both football and athletics .

The Oxford Hoodie on the other hand , uses the skills of shirt fabric provider and cotton spinners Thomas Mason Ltd . The normal sweat hoodie is replaced by fine shirt material which is an unusual take of the traditional street uniform of today .
Headgear
Now , this is the concept that I really wanted to see . The Bowler Cap is manufatured by hat maker Walter Wright , a company that for over 100 years has been producing felt and straw hats . Made from Russian rabbit felt which I was told , is the finest grade available , the cap combines the traditional baseball cap style with the production process of the traditional english bowler hat . Created from a specially design aluminium mould , the felt is then stretched and then hand steamed over it until the shape is taken , finished off with a hand embroidered Puma logo from Savile Row embroiderer , Hand & Lock , the cap comes with it own felt bag and hat box , a very different cap indeed .
Finishing the range , Puma ‘s traditional cloth baseball cap but this time made from the wool twill used for the Liga shoes . Retailing at £80 and £40

All in all , the twist that Oki Ni puts on traditional products that we all know is there in spades . With the limited production run now back to the store’s normal output , we should expect to see some exciting releases in the future from their new partnership with Puma . Watch this space .
My thanks to everyone at Oki Ni .
POP UP STORE
3 , Little Portland Street , London
27th Sept – 6th Oct
Mon-Sat 11am to 7pm
Sun 12 noon – 5pm
