Cool for Rent

That new Puma Cali in purple is sitting in my head. The shoe itself is fine—tennis court design from the 80s, perforations and a chunky sole, nothing that’s going to change your life. But it works. There’s no apology in it, no self-consciousness about being retro.

I’ve been a Stan Smith guy for years. They’re the kind of shoe you don’t think about, which is the whole point. The Cali is the opposite—you notice it, but it doesn’t feel like it’s asking for permission.

Selena Gomez wearing them is the strategy. Puma looked at the market and realized they don’t have enough cultural weight to be cool on their own. So they signed people who do: Rihanna, The Weeknd, Selena. The CEO actually said this in an interview—get Gen-Z girls interested, and the boys automatically follow. It’s blunt and true. It’s also the entire system of how taste spreads.

But it only works if there’s something there to begin with. The shoe has to be fine. The design has to make sense. Then the right person shows up wearing it, and suddenly it matters. That’s when taste becomes contagious. Maybe that’s all taste ever is.

I still don’t know if I’d actually buy another sneaker. But I get why people would.