Keds Teams Up with Puppets and Puppets for a Fresh Take on the Champion Sneaker

Keds and Puppets and Puppets collaboration sneaker is finally hitting shelves next month. The shoe first debuted on the runway during Puppets and Puppets spring ’24 show during New York Fashion Week last year.

The classic Champion style has been updated slightly with a kiss print and features cotton laces, and black contrast co-branding.

Puppets and Puppets founder Carly Mark said the goal was to pay homage to the iconic Keds style with a simple design.

“I love the classic Keds Champion. I admire the brand’s dedication to a smart style that just works,” she said. “I’m very much a don’t fix what isn’t broken type of girl when it comes to design. It’s really an act of admiration, kissing the classic shoe. It’s also a bit fetishistic, which is fun. Similarly to other work I’ve made, the kiss mark is a motif used by designers that I admire. It’s both a step forward as well as an homage to pre-existing design.”

The director of collaborations for Keds, Nicole Underwood, added, “I’ve long admired Carly’s unique perspective on accessories, particularly her ability to take an iconic item like a black leather tote or classic canvas sneaker and merge it with design elements that give something that is usually quite traditional a distinct edge.”

On the footbed and the collab’s special-edition shoebox is the label’s namesake, with a graphic print of a Chihuahua mix dog named Puppet. The collaboration launches on Sept. 10 on keds.com and puppetsandpuppets.com and is priced at $80.