A Look Back: The Puma Clyde “Chase” Pack From 2005

On the heels of Puma releasing their Trinomic New York pack, we thought now was a good a time to jump in our Delorean and head back to 2005 to explore another New York-inspired Puma release.

The Puma Clyde should be a staple in the closet of any sneaker enthusiast. Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s signature Puma sneaker embodied his style and has stood the test of time since its release in 1968. Revered by b-boys in the ‘70s and ‘80s to skaters in the ‘90’s, the silhouette has always personified “cool,” just like its namesake. The Puma Clyde “Chase” pack was released in the the summer of 2005 and celebrated Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s career by including three models in colors reminiscent of the jerseys he wore throughout his career with the New York Knicks.

The pack was limited to 100 pairs in each colorway that corresponded to a city: New York (blue suede with off-white accents), London (buttery off-white suede with an orange formstripe), and Tokyo (orange suede with a blue formstripe). Each city colorway was numbered on the heel tab with a 1 (New York), 2 (London) and 3 (Tokyo). The shoe featured the classic gold foil Puma Clyde branding on top of quality suede, a leather lining, and the name of each city stitched onto the heel.

The shoes in this pack came in special packaging with extra goodies like a suede brush, shoe care guide, and a Clyde collector’s timeline book. Some even included an autographed picture of Frazier himself. Ten years later, the Puma “Chase” pack is still on the grail list of many Puma collectors, including this author (size 8.5 please and thank you!).

It’s interesting to note that this was one of the first exclusive “pack” releases that Puma had in the 2000s, which was followed by other major collaborations and exclusive colors. The Clyde “Chase” pack set the bar high for future exclusive releases with quality material, exclusive city release locations, and special packaging that includes all the bells and whistles we collectors salivate over.

Images via pkballr / Sneakerpedia