PUMA Are Bringing the Pitch to the Streets with the King Indoor Royalty and V-S1
Terracewear dominated last year, with the oversized jerseys and low-profile T-toe sneakers taking feeds by storm. But that’s so 2024, and are entering 2025 on some new sh*t. Instead of looking to the packed stadium stands for inspo, the Big Cat are going straight to the source: the field. The German brand is taking two of their biggest football cleat franchises, the King and the V1, and giving them a street-ready makeover – swapping their field-appropriate spiked bottoms for flat grippy soles that are ready to pound the pavement.
The and dribble confidently into the lifestyle space, bringing the sleek, fast-paced energy of heritage cleats into everyday rotations. With roots tied to icons of the game and a futuristic edge, the new models blur the line between performance and style like never before.
The King Indoor Royalty: From Pro Footballers to Fashion’s Elite
The PUMA King has been worn by legends since its debut on the feet of football royalty Eusébio at the 1966 FIFA World Cup. In the decades since, it’s been donned by the likes of Pelé, Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthäus, and with more recent evolutions of the cleat, Xavi Simons and Neymar Jr. The iconic model was known for its lightweight build and the legends who scored goals in it, but it had its lifestyle awakening in 1998 when German designer Jil Sander spliced its upper with the sole of the for one of the pioneering sport x fashion crossover collaborations. This linkup gave way for PUMA to release the lifestyle focused King Indoor, and while it didn’t stick around for long that time, the burgeoning rise of blokecore in 2024 presented another opportunity to hail King Indoor Royalty. With its sleek profile, smooth leather uppers and foldover tongue, the model has found a home next to terracewear icons while also giving die-hard football fans the opportunity to wear a version of the model their pitch heroes tout.
The result has seen the once no-nonsense King Indoor rebuild a reputation in the fast-moving present day fashion scene. Slowly but surely, the King lineage is inching closer to its rightful seat on the throne, with the Big Cat tapping the crowd responsible for the Gen Z flair. brand took guidance from Jil Sander to create the , which is a hybrid model that borrows the King’s folded tongue and studs to create a fashion-forward reimagination that aligned the retro model with a community that values both the roots of the game and the culture, style and stories that come with it. Most recently, the technicolour multihyphenate was given the opportunity to dress the King Indoor in a royally swagged-out colourway boasting that pre-worn look du jour.
Now fitting perfectly into the space where jorts, replica kits or even Héctor Bellerín’s trench coat thrive, the brand's latest upgrade, the King Indoor Royalty, is set to rule. Now, the sleek and low-cut rendition takes the original monochrome colourway and transforms it into in a myriad of both retro-inspired and modern iterations like 'Archive Green/Yellow Sizzle' and 'Day Dream/Frosted Ivory' that make for the perfect option for the urban jungle dweller.
The VS-1 Is Sprinting into the Zeitgeist
Brand-new for now, the V-S1 finally gives the V1 series its long-overdue lifestyle moment. A fresh model built for the fashion-football crowd, it reworks the DNA of the original speed boot into something made for the streets. With a nickname short for 'Velocity’, the OG lineage was first introduced in the early 2000s and revolutionised lightweight football boots with cutting-edge materials like Schoeller ConTec and carbon fibre sole plates. Star players including Samuel Eto'o, Peter Crouch, Freddie Ljungberg, and Robert Pires all wore the V1.06 during the game’s grandest tournaments, including the Champions League and World Cup. But while the King Indoor already made the jump into lifestyle, the V1 series never got that treatment – until today. Enter the V-S1: a upgraded model that takes the DNA of the original and reworks it for style-savvy fans.
The V-S1 channels its signature performance edge for the modern day, with visual cues borrowed from powerhouse predecessors V1.06 and V1.08 – the latter of which was worn by French player and now manager Nicolas Anelka in the late 2000s. Landing at the sweet spot between Y2K nostalgia and casual-inspired revival, the design features oversized Formstrips, asymmetrical lacing and structural heel counters. These tech aesthetics are complemented by bold metallic finishes and low midsoles that bring them into the wave of shiny sport-meets-street hybrids.
PUMA have always been about mixing heritage with the future, and today’s current landscape proves just that. With an unwavering focus on both performance and culture, the brand continues to stay ahead when it comes to taking football culture beyond the pitch. The King Indoor Royalty and V-S1 remain just as fresh as the day they dropped, showing how a purveyor of sport and streetwear can continue to push forward, no matter the era.