Interview with
Jörg Rohwer - Kahlmann
Former Puma designer
AG: Firstly, can you tell us a bit about how you got your start at PUMA - was it a brand you
previously wanted to work for, or was it something you fell into and ended up loving?
JRK: I could spend an entire evening answering this question, as the journey actually began 35
years ago when Andi, my oldest friend and VOR business partner, and I first met. Sneakers
have constantly accompanied us on our journey together, alongside skateboarding, music
and fashion. They were the main element that we always focused on first for style reasons.
But to make a long story short, after I had completed my industrial design studies with a
focus on transportation design, I actually thought I would prefer to go into that and worked in
a studio in Munich for another year. In my free time, it was still all about sneakers and PUMA
in particular was the brand in the early 2000's that I found incredibly exciting, as they
suddenly came up with completely new, previously unknown silhouettes. Mostro, Speed Cat
or the Cellerator Inhale were revelations, the design approach really fascinated me. Out of
this euphoria and passion, I felt an incredibly strong urge to design shoes, especially for a
brand as design-heavy as PUMA.
I sent my portfolio to PUMA in Herzo (Germany, where the PUMA HQ lives) completely spontaneously and on my own initiative, and without knowing much about footwear design (there was virtually nothing on the Internet at the time). They found it interesting, but didn't have an in-house design department at the time - it was external in Munich - and forwarded my application there. The studio manager liked
what he saw, I was invited, we had a very good conversation and I was sent home with the
task of designing a shoe for PUMA in a few days. I just went ahead and presented the design,
it was really well received and I got my job as a footwear designer. From then on it was crazy
haha!
AG: Walk us through how you ended up working on the Future Cat; PUMA was obviously
keen for a follow up to the Speed Cat, but it can definitely be argued that your
Future Cat design was much more ergonomically built for a driver’s foot, with elements
that work both aesthetically and physically different from the Speed Cat profile.
JRK: That was really wild, I had only just started and then this briefing for a potential Speed Cat
successor came my way... that put a lot of pressure on me!
I only believe in fate, not luck, and it just so happened that PUMA wanted a new perspective,
a completely different approach - I was fresh and new at the start, pumped to the max with
the desire to tear things up and so the project was on my desk in 2003.
The Speed Cat had already been on the market for a few years at that point and was
probably slowly fading away, so of course the call was great to conjure up a successor.
Which is always extremely difficult, of course. The briefing basically called for a new
performance product (pro fireproof driver boot) with all its technical requirements plus its
street takedown (lifestyle low version) as a Speed Cat partner and/or successor, the direction
in which this should go was open and was therefore given to me as a task.
I therefore had the opportunity to start designing freely and with fresh input. I wanted to
create something fundamentally new, something that offers drivers new possibilities as a
performance product, solves potential problems, supports them in their use in the car, in the
best case a product revolution, not an evolution of the existing driver boots.
Ideally, the takedown version should also be able to compensate for the dwindling success of
the Speed Cat.
That was quite a statement!
At the time, I wanted to create both a top performance product that made absolute sense in
all respects and also totally defined itself as a lifestyle product with this look and set it apart
from the rest, creating something really new. You should look fresh, but as a fan you should
also be able to wear a bit of racing flair on the road. With the takedown, I wanted to stay as
close as possible to the pro boot visually.
My aim was to establish a completely new, modern and future-oriented design direction that
would clearly stand out from the more retro-classic-inspired products that had been
available to date.
Puma Speed Cat (1999)
Puma Future Cat (2004)
AG: What were your inspirations when designing the Future Cat; how much input did PUMA
themselves end up having, or was it a sense of a “pure design” from you?
JRK: As described, the brief was open, which made the project totally design-driven and gave me
the opportunity to create something new from scratch.
My main approach for the design drafts was above all “Future” and “Reduce to the Max”.
Visually, I wanted to create a product that was so innovative that it would stand out through
its look alone and break with what had been seen before, and ideally have such a sophisticated design that it would last and not look old or outdated. That was my personal aspiration on the aesthetic side.
That's why my inspiration board at the time only contained concept cars, sci-fi designs and
very straightforwardly designed products, without frills, designed for a purpose, clear statements without “gimmicks”. I deliberately didn't show a single existing shoe because I didn't want to be distracted by anything that already existed.
I then transferred this minimalist, super-streamlined design approach into the purpose, into
the needs, into the performance. I wanted a driver boot that would be as ergonomic as possible, free of unnecessary gimmicks, a kind of glove for the foot where every element makes sense. Just reduced to the max!
These thoughts gave rise to the large one-layer upper, which is only broken by the one
diagonal split. This is flush (stitch and turn) in order to have a surface as smooth as possible.
I also wanted to free the medial side from the previously predominant, additional form stripe
layer, firstly to reduce weight and secondly to avoid friction points on the medial side. From
this requirement, I created the “Big Cat”, which was soon used more and more often as a new significant element on new PUMA products.
The side lacing was created first and foremost for performance reasons, I wanted to shift all
possible pressure points that could strain the driver's sensitive instep to the side for better blood circulation.
Of course, this also radically influenced the look, which is what I wanted to achieve, something that had never been seen before on such products and so I had achieved both performance and a new look.
I designed the outsole according to the requirements of the driver in an F1 car. I definitely wanted an outsole that would meet the very specific requirements and every line should make sense.
Due to the special seating position of the driver and the fact that the feet only operate two pedals, I designed the cylindrical heel shape in strong contrast to the ball-shaped rounded Speed Cat heel that makes more sense in 3-pedal cars. I wanted to support the horizontal rolling movement and give the driver a top tool for his very own footwork. I raised the cylindrical heel at the back to give the shoe protection on contact, supported by a 3D molded EVA element that provides cushioning both when walking and driving. For a slightly better cushioning function, I split the heel (hence the visually significant channel at the bottom and back), so that the firmer rubber flexes more easily when walking and rolling.
I even designed the outsole in 3D software in my spare time at home in the evenings and at weekends and built foam models to refine my ideas and be able to visualize them better. PUMA didn't have a 3D department or 3D designer at the time, I was pretty good at it after my industrial design studies, so I did it myself.
The diagonal split runs out of the cylindrical heel element, visually across the entire shoe and
symbolizes the driver's pedal, thus taking up the horizontal pivoting movement. In addition,
there is the circle in the heel, which virtually represents the axis along which the foot rolls in
this position. The visually striking split in particular was later to become a clear trademark of the Future Cat and was often copied.
Another very specific element was the new last shape of the shoe, which follows the shape of the toes closely, but creates a slightly more spacious toe box when viewed from the side than, for example, the Speed Cat, which was very flat at the time. This gave both the driver and later the end consumer more comfort when wearing the shoe.
Jörg's first Future Cat sketch explorations, and the finished Future Cat design.
AG: We know that Michael Schumacher was an early adopter of your Future Cat design - any fun stories?
JRK: That's right, PUMA became Michael Schumacher's official supplier in 2004. We had almost completed the development of the Future Cat and the official release was planned for 2005.
So, Michael was the first driver to be equipped with the new product and to race in it during the 2005 season. After PUMA outfitted more and more teams and drivers from then on, more and more drivers also raced with the Future Cat.
The pit crews were also given fireproof Future Cat Hi models which was visually very cool because you could see the shoe almost everywhere.
Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take part in the meetings with him myself at the time; it was
always handled by a PUMA-employed advisor who knew all the drivers and had excellent connections to the racing teams and managers, and it was mainly him who collected information and passed it on to us.
Michael was definitely very happy with his Future Cat and drove in it for many years.
Ferarri Pitlane, 2006
Michael Schumacher, 2005
Fernando Alonso, 2006
Credit: Mauricio Lima
AG: How did you feel when PUMA adapted the Future Cat into the low profile for the fashion market? Or was this always the end game considering what happened with the Speed Cat?
JRK: As already described, the takedown version was part of the briefing. This is the natural process for all brands, you invest a lot of research and development in a top performance product, but then you want and have to earn money with the takedowns or lifestyle versions. Of course, nobody knows at the beginning whether this will work and be a success, but everyone hopes for it and bets on this horse.
AG: When did you and PUMA know you had a hit on your hands? Was the shoe an instant success or a slow burn in terms of sale/popularity?
JRK: I think we all felt that there was something really special in front of us that could lead to great things! Everything was just right, it looked completely new, the product made sense on so
many levels. Of course, I was absolutely convinced of my design anyway... I put my energy and passion into the project day and night, so to speak.
My PLM at the time was also fully behind me during the design phase. And when I presented
the project to a select group of top management during the final design (the project was
being closely followed due to its extremely important position for PUMA as an F1 supplier and
its hoped-for commercial success), everyone was really impressed, I knew deep down that the thing would be a success.
The Future Cat low was then immediately very well received by the buyers, as everyone sensed the next big hit, something completely new for the market, but also fully in line with the zeitgeist of the low-profile trend at the time. The shoe got off to an even better start than anyone had expected and took off like a rocket from the very first season. It remained in PUMA's range for a very long time and became a million-seller for the brand.
I think the Future Cat mainly created its own space, so it was only an indirect competitor to
the Speed Cat because it was so different. PUMA was therefore still able to sell Speed Cats,
but also more and more Future Cats, without the latter cannibalizing Speed Cat sales.
First Future Cat fitting, 2004
AG: Michael Schumacher ended up with a special colourway a year or two after release; can you tell us how involved you were to design it with his dragon down the side?
JRK: This shoe was born out of the good and long-term relationship between PUMA and Michael. It was simply time to give a driver like him his own version. Back then, Michael wore the Chinese dragon on his helmet, as a symbol of power and strength, and wanted it on his shoes, too. That's why we designed the Michael Schumacher version back then.
Michael Schumacher's iconic Dragon design on his race-ready pair of Future Cats, 2005.
AG: How would you feel about PUMA bringing back your iconic Future Cat profile? Is it something that feels full circle to you?
JRK: The Future Cat is actually celebrating its 20th anniversary this year since its first market launch. I think the Future Cat has fulfilled what I wanted to create back then, a long-lasting product that won't look “old” any time soon. It still looks modern today, timelessly sleek and this appeal still speaks to you even after 20 years. In my opinion, it has aged differently to the Speed Cat, for example. This has a retro appeal, it already had more classic features back then, but today it is a clear retro fashion re-release.
For me, the Future Cat is currently anything but retro. Either it needs to be much older or it needs to be relaunched in a context like the Mostro. The Mostro still looks advanced in its own way and has no retro appeal. In its current re-release, it was accompanied by some new interpretations, all very futuristic and modern, which fully corresponds to the original product.
I would see it the same way with the Future Cat and it would make sense to me, so less a 20 year retro release a la Speed Cat, but rather something new designed around a reissue of the Future Cat. But I couldn't say when exactly would be a good time for this...
AG: When did you start VOR? Was it a natural progression for you after working with PUMA for so many years?
JRK: We founded VOR in 2010, so 7 years after I started at PUMA. It was a natural progression, I would say. I had really achieved a lot, brought a lot of great products onto the market, learned a lot, experienced a lot, the time was simply right for a new adventure. I had no desire to stand still, I wanted to invest the passion and positive energy that comes with being a designer in something new.
I designed a few things for other brands after PUMA, but that wasn't really what gave me the final push. The appeal of having my own brand with my very own approach to running a modern, contemporary brand, in addition to pure product creation, really appealed to me. When Andi provided the initial spark, we jumped in at the deep end and got started. From then on, I dedicated myself completely to my own brand.
The baby needed a lot of love and attention and anyone who has done this or is currently doing it knows that your own brand or company can only succeed if you are 100% committed to it, otherwise it won't work. And this year we are celebrating 15 years of VOR and are delighted that we have also created something long-lasting with this brand.
A big thank you to Jörg for sharing his incredible history!
You can visit VOR and follow Jörg on instagram for more behind the scenes on his design process.