Wow. There must be something in the water at the moment. Just as our faith in collaborations reaches an all-time low, Bobbito, Patta and UBIQ engage in an effortless restoration. PUMA aligning themselves with sport-orientated boutiques, think UNDFTD earlier in the year, and now Philly's UBIQ, seems to yield some killer results. UBIQ's approach to retail is always intelligent, ambitious and progressive. Sorry if it sounds like we're dickriding, but from installations to their own-brand pieces, they're always thorough. They've used their time in the double-label spotlight here to tell a Philadelphia story, about the legend of the Veteran Stadium ("The Vet").

You know your spot has a gully reputation when even we CT office-dwellers know about the locale. The Boss caused a ruckus there with a killer set during the 'Born In The USA' tour, but with a 60,000+ capacity, and football and baseball played there on the regular, plus immediate proximity to Broad Street, Mr. Beanie Siegel's locale, a rep for rowdiness was inevitable. From 1971 to its closure in 2003, it became something of a legend - the general admission Row 700 was a reputed hotbed of misbehaviour, and the place even had its own court - in the legal rather than athletic sense to deal with troublemakers. The so-called "Nest Of Death" contained fans who once mocked a Dallas Cowboys reciever as writhed in agony from an injury, and best of all, chucked 'D' batteries at a Cardinals player for not signing with the Phillies. Now that's passion. Well, passion with a spot of thuggery.


Comprised of two Clydes, in silver and white, two PUMA Suede Mids, in black and green, and some appropriate headgear, in the shape of a beanie (sold separately) these makeups manage to incorporate enough detail to rep the topic perfectly, but stay wearable. Lace jewels, team colours, lettered laces and some good use of leather, plus an artist's rendition on the tongue and seating guide on the footbed show that from both sides, these were a labour-of-love, but the football jersey mesh on the Suede and zig-zag formstripe stitching on the Suede Mids is something different on a simple formula thats been given every other treatment known to mankind these last few years.

These are released on November 21st in select PUMA stockists globally, including the Crooked Tongues Store. Anything involving misbehaviour, sporting achievements, junk food consumption and tradition is a tale worth telling, and UBIQ tell it well.