ROMBAUT delivered one of the breakout performances at Paris Fashion Week last June: a 10th-anniversary spectacle that saw the brand take to the runways for the first time — in its home city, nonetheless. The vegan footwear specialist’s show featured more than dramatic choreography: its PUMA collaboration caught the attention of sneakerheads. Drawing inspiration from archival PUMA models, ROMBAUT created a new “floating heel” that presents an illusion of the wearer levitating. This foundational element backs the low-top Levitation and the much taller Levitation Sock. Three of the collaboration’s styles launched earlier this month, with only select sizes remaining via ROMBAUT and boutiques such as HBX.
To further explore the partnership, we connected with ROMBAUT founder and creative director Mats Rombaut, who discussed the project’s inspiration, leading the footwear team at YEEZY for a year, the importance of sustainable design in fashion, and more.
You made your runway debut in Paris last year. What was that like?
It was never a major goal of mine, but it was something that had to be done. As a small brand, it’s constantly about survival, and celebrating 10 years in such a grand way was a beautiful experience.
Do you want to do it again?
Definitely, with the right reason. The first time is always the hardest, and now that I have had the experience, I would love to do it again. It could even be as the creative director for another brand. I learned so much from that show, as well as the past year in general. I worked for YEEZY for about a year as the head of footwear, but I just resigned earlier this month [Editor’s Note: Our conversation occurred in February]. Working on ROMBAUT and YEEZY simultaneously was a transformative experience for me.
“Developing a PUMA shoe took an entire year, whereas at YEEZY, you’re expected to make a functional sample in five days.”
Tell me more about your time at YEEZY.
I led the footwear team and released three pairs of shoes, starting with the YZY SL-01 clog in January. The SL-02 and SL-03 — a rubber low-top sneaker and rubber boot — were next and dropped simultaneously during the Super Bowl. Though they were only available for a few hours, they sold well due to their connection to the event and accessible $20 USD price point.
Throughout my tenure at YEEZY, I would be in China for one or two weeks per month to work with the factories, establishing a complete supply chain as there was next to nothing in place when I started, and our team was very small. Not only was design work involved, but development too, and I was also responsible for working closely with the production staff. It was very intense — the opposite of my collaborative work with PUMA, where the pace was completely different. Developing a PUMA shoe took an entire year, whereas at YEEZY, you’re expected to make a functional sample in five days, resulting in hundreds of samples.
The PUMA collaboration caught the eyes of many. Have you been surprised at all by how well-received it has been?
Honestly, no. I was very happy with the shoes, and they’re among my favorites that we’ve ever done. It’s an excellent balance of our two brands and a key part of the result is that it makes sense from both sides.
What’s the ROMBAUT team’s personal history with PUMA?
We didn’t have any history with PUMA, but we’ve always loved their archive — particularly projects from the end of the ‘90s to the early ‘00s with collaborations they executed with the likes of Mihara Yasuhiro, Alexander McQueen, and Jil Sander. That’s why we connected with the brand and proposed to bring back some of that creative archive, combining it with our futuristic touch. It’s an incredibly rich archive, and there’s still so much that can be done with it. We put together five styles and while they’re all different, it felt like PUMA was very cautious and focused on what they thought would be commercial. I see the youth as being so familiar with vintage that I believe they can go crazier with the proposals. If a design is striking and wearable, people will naturally talk about it and, eventually, purchase it.
At the time of the show, the project was already a year in the making and you went through four rounds of prototypes. What was the development process like?
We’re a small team at ROMBAUT with few resources but it’s always amazing to see what we’re capable of doing. It’s easy to dream that a big brand will open all the doors for you, making everything possible. In reality, there’s always a struggle, and this was no different with PUMA. The closer you are to the factory, the faster you can speed up development. For example, the curled toe boot we revealed at Paris Fashion Week in January took a mere five or six months. With most big companies, this would have taken at least two years. Instead, we completed seven rounds of sampling in just a few months because I was practically living at the factory. That’s the thing with big companies: you have to follow the rules of the game, but you need to break the rules to make something exceptional.
How different were the final products from the first samples?
There was quite a big difference. Whenever we make an ambitious shoe, the factories are always quick to say “No, that’s not possible,” and it’s up to us to propose a solution. Thankfully with PUMA, they were very open-minded … and we were pretty persuasive too. At first, the floating heel was not “floating” as much as we intended. We pushed it further with each round of sampling, adding space while also making the curves sexier and honing in on the outsole’s construction.
Could you walk me through the entire ROMBAUT x PUMA range of footwear?
Our low-top Levitation sneaker features a Velcro closure at its tongue, offering both sleekness and ample comfort. Its three colorways begin with all-black and white with a dirty yellow as the launch looks. A third hospital gown-like green colorway that was also present in the runway show is set to drop later. As for the Levitation Sock, it features the same tooling while carrying a sock-like upper. Our black pair arrived as a pre-order and will be later accompanied by a white version that is almost like a dirty sock in the way it features faux wear.
Your design nods to the past while remaining distinctly futuristic: it’s partially inspired by an archival Ferrari x PUMA collaboration. How did you go about balancing these elements?
We love the racing aesthetic from that time and wanted to channel it — which we previously did with ROMBAUT’s second season. The floating heel came from that model and was originally understated. We wanted to exaggerate it to make it look like the wearer was levitating. It’s tied into the idea of trying to reach something higher — some form of enlightenment — improving your mindset, and thus, your life as a result.
We carried this philosophy out through our show and campaign, demonstrating that it’s not only about physical strength in this world but mental strength, too. Shaolin kung fu and other Eastern philosophies are of great interest to me and focus on cultivating both the mind and body. Everything in the Spring/Summer 2025 collection is about elevating your mind and inspiring others to do so, ultimately bringing a touch of positive change into the world.
If you could only pick one pair from the collection to wear, which would it be?
I’ve been wearing the black colorway of the Levitation Sock for months now, even to do kung fu.
The green low-top was given the name “Medic” on Instagram. What inspired this name?
ROMBAUT has always been inspired by science and how it can help humanity — from healing people to bringing us to the moon. We’re also dependent on scientific research to resolve the world’s problems, including in fashion, where so much waste is produced each year. I have great respect for scientists and their work, so I continue to look to them for material solutions and inspiration.
This particular “Medic” pair is a nod to a hospital campaign that we put together just before the pandemic began in 2020. It ended up being released when everyone was at home, and it involved a setting with this green color while also featuring a “sneaker heel” that merged orthopedic footwear with fashion.
Last year, you were awarded the PETA vegan award in fashion for best vegan collaboration. Could you speak more about ROMBAUT’s commitment to sustainability?
It’s always been my dream to make something with the lowest possible impact on the planet. Initially, this involved making biodegradable footwear. I experimented with many different biomaterials — all-natural plant-based ones — and we did manage to create shoes that were 100% biodegradable. In our first season, we sold these pairs at COMME des GARÇONS in Tokyo. However, they were starting to fall apart too quickly, and I realized it wasn’t a viable business. 10 years later, the footwear has become much more durable — another key part of sustainability — as you want to wear something for a long time. There are plenty of faux leathers and synthetics that are rubbish, so we sought out one that is very durable and typically used to create safety footwear, which has since become a staple in our collections.
I don’t believe in exploiting animals for fashion. Even if people see it as a byproduct of the meat industry, it’s not something we want to participate in or support. I see the future as one that looks past this and on to material innovations as the basis of the fashion industry. It’s still my dream to make biodegradable footwear that works, however, it’s something people don’t seem to be waiting for. We never get a request centered around it, so it is a pursuit that happens on our own time and with our own investment. Regardless, it is very important to me and I believe it will be my life’s work to eventually make it happen.
“I don’t believe in exploiting animals for fashion. Even if people see it as a byproduct of the meat industry, it’s not something we want to participate in or support.”
Maintaining your perspective when collaborating with a large brand like PUMA must be difficult.
I’m not going to greenwash it. We asked for sustainable materials many times, and while they were open to the idea, the options were quite limited — mostly due to minimum order quantities. We used as many recycled components as we could negotiate, but the brand has its own standards to meet with benchmarks like slip resistance. Given the constraints, I believe we both did the best that we could.
I’m sure it’s tough to accomplish with such large-scale infrastructure.
Yes. To be fair, it’s a fashion collaboration. The quantities are very limited and they’re not going to overhaul their entire supply chain for it, but I believe the willingness is there to do something more in the future, which is great.
What feeling do you hope this collaboration communicates?
It’s about inspiring people to do better, whatever that may look like. Everyone’s doing their best, but I believe that through mindfulness and meditation, you can unlock an even better version of yourself, uplifting those around you in the process.
Click here to view full gallery at Hypebeast
Koyal (@officialkoyal) – “gasoline” (Video)
Enter The post Koyal (@officialkoyal) – “gasoline” (Video) first appeared on DIGIINDIE.| Play | Cover | Release Label |
Track Title Track Authors |
|---|