The Jil Sander x PUMA K-Street Is a Study in Sneaker “Purity”

 For Jil Sander Creative Director, Simone Bellotti, the return of the brand’s trailblazing PUMA partnership was a natural choice. The Italian designer resurrected the partnership in 2025, releasing the King Avanti just months after joining the house. Not only was the original collaboration an important milestone for Jil Sander, but for fashion as a whole. “When this collaboration started, I wasn’t able to buy those shoes,” Bellotti recalled during a virtual interview in late March. Widely understood as the first luxury sneaker collaboration, Jil Sander x PUMA debuted with the KING silhouette in 1998, releasing multiple models before pausing in 2006. Two decades later, luxury sneaker collaborations have become an integral tool in the machinery of fashion, bridging the gap between mass appeal and high design.“A very slim silhouette feels more ‘pure’ in a way. It goes to the essence of the shoe, without having too much design or material over it.”Today, Bellotti doesn’t see sneaker culture and luxury fashion as all that distant. To him, the only thing that ever divided the formal shoe from a casual sneaker is the “feeling” — whether it be a desire to feel more put-together or relaxed. Indeed, in 2026, sneakers with suits and loafers with loungewear are not only accepted but expected.While he acknowledges fashion’s shift back toward slim-soled shoes, Bellotti isn’t propelled by trend cycles. He’s more interested in the way that the slim sneaker silhouette “feels more ‘pure.’” As he puts it, “ to the essence of the shoe.”What he strives for is the delight in finding the right balance of contradictory elements that complete a design — crafting a varied “cocktail of ideas” that becomes something beautiful. In the case of the K-Street, it’s a smooth blend of the 2004 Jil Sander x PUMA Karate Low and the 1998 PUMA H-Street, an ultralight racer shoe inspired by Kenyan running icon Daniel Komen.In conversation with Hypebeast, Bellotti reflects on his ideal footwear silhouette, Jil Sander’s role in pioneering the luxury sneaker, and his affinity for designing through contradiction.Jil Sander and PUMA first collaborated in 1998 before taking a long break. What made now the right time to bring it back? I think it felt very natural to bring back that moment with that specific product. It’s part of the brand’s history, but also fashion history. It was one of the first collaborations between two different brands, so it was a big milestone.What’s interesting is that [Jil Sander] was always looking forward, so it was about finding an argument that was relevant and celebrating that. When this collaboration started, I wasn’t able to buy those shoes. So I thought it was fun to start this chapter again, in a way paying homage to what happened, but also recognizing that it is still very contemporary.The original H-Street model came out in 2003. How did you land on remixing this particular silhouette for your second