Puffer Reds and Adidas empower Gen Z talent to design 45th anniversary sneaker

France Holmes and Ken Allen aren’t household names in the sneaker industry – yet.

Holmes, 19, and Allen, 25, work at Puffer Reds – a metro Detroit shoe store with locations in Ypsilanti, Mich., and Wayne, Mich. In just a few years, each employee has advanced in status at work, assuming new responsibilities and earning higher titles.

Today, they are both sneaker designers.

“I’ve wanted to design a shoe since I was a kid,” Holmes told Andscape. “I never thought I’d be designing a shoe with Adidas.”

Holmes, a sales advisor at Puffer Reds for the past two years, sees his boots-on-the-ground growth crystallize through this week’s release of the Puffer Reds x Adidas Adistar “Track 45” – a musical homage to the community fixture’s 45th anniversary.

While the sneakers pay tribute to founder Eric Williams, who opened the shop in 1979 as a record store before focusing on footwear, the collaborative sneakers transcend time, with the youth leading the way.

“We wanted to show where we’re at now and represent the younger crowd,” Holmes said. “That’s why we picked a newer shoe.”

Leaning into the mesh running trend that has Gen Z shelving their basketball shoes, the collaboration embodies the power of truth in Puffer Reds’ mission to uplift the local community through opportunities tied to business and philanthropy.

“I started on the sales floor, and I’ve just been elevating since,” Allen – the Ypsilanti store manager, buyer and receiving supervisor – told Andscape. “It’s a crazy family environment.”

Allen and Holmes were two of the many Puffer Reds employees enrolled in the Adidas Business Track career-building program, which was backed by the Detroit-based Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design.

The program, launched by Adidas and Pensole, creates a professional path aimed at diversifying the sportswear industry, which is largely influenced by people of color but is not nearly represented enough in employment opportunities.

“This industry doesn’t have a lot of Black and Brown people in it,” Tony Holmes, senior product manager at Adidas, said in a promotional video for the Puffer Reds release. “We’re still deficient in the sporting goods industry. We need the next gen [generation] wave at Adidas.”

Though both now have ties to Adidas, Tony Holmes and France Holmes are not related.

Meanwhile, the hands-on approach to education has allowed Puffer Reds employees like Allen and France Holmes the chance to learn from Pensole founder D’Wayne Edwards, who has designed shoes for basketball legend Michael Jordan and fashion designer Karl Kani.

“We had a class specifically dedicated to materials,” said Allen, who learned not only the variances between types of GORE-TEX but also intel on overseas sourcing and how fabrics influence the price of a product.

The experience was as educational as it was aspirational, opening the door for dreams to be realized.

“Adidas blessed us with this, and it’s surreal,” Allen echoed. “Adidas showed us anything is possible. Especially at such a young age, you don’t get to do this.”

By experiencing the backend process of how a shoe goes from concept to retail, Allen and Holmes have achieved a goal that most shoe-store employees only fantasize about.

Just the same, the process is mutually beneficial for Puffer Reds and Adidas, as each time-tested entity understands the value of ideation stemming from the youth who set and live the trends.

“You have to have somebody there to tell you what might be trending next year,” Holmes said, understanding the 18-month timeline typically seen on sneaker releases moving from idea to retail.

“It keeps it fresh,” Allen said. “Times change and move so fast, especially now. Having the youth have a voice helps it stay up to par and on trend.”

The Adistar sneaker, similar in shape and structure to the Pharrell x Adidas Jellyfish, is on trend and on time. It provides a contemporary canvas for telling the story of Puffer Reds and the shop’s rich musical history.

While Williams may have opened the doors to Puffer Red during the Motown music era, Allen and Holmes hope that modern Detroit artists, such as Veeze, Babyface Ray, and Rio Da Yung OG, will pop out in the sneakers.

Speaking to the core kids who created the shoe and the shop that started it all, the “Track 45” Adistar is an ode to the area’s longstanding music scene. Vinyl finishes and silver CD striping span eras, with nods to local area codes and even a hint of the Detroit Lions’ Honolulu blue hitting close to home.

To celebrate the release, Puffer Reds will transform into an immersive time capsule to showcase all the generations the store has served. Surviving six national recessions and one local financial crisis, Puffer Reds has remained in business in what most consider a fickle industry.

The secret to success has been being a constant fixture of the community.

In fact, Holmes and Allen first encountered Puffer Reds as kids when family members would take them to the store ahead of school for events featuring free haircuts and live music. These memories mean everything to the young employees who started as shoppers and now thrive as employees.

“I’m from Ypsi, so the back-to-school events from Puffer Reds were really big in the community,” Holmes said. “I grew up on it.”

On Aug. 28, Holmes and Allen will realize full-circle success. They will host the launch event for the shoe they designed in the store where they grew up, with pairs of the Puffer Reds x Adidas Adistar “Track 45” available for sale at each location for $150.

Pairs purchased on release day will come with a ticket to the official launch celebration at Diamondback Music Hall, celebrating 45 years of Puffer Reds and the area’s rich music scene.

Holmes and Allen can’t wait. The celebration is a chance to realize their dreams, celebrate the booming local music scene, and silence the calls from friends and family asking for a pair of the shoes.

“Detroit is crazy right now,” Allen said. “Everybody’s been coming out of the woodwork asking for the shoe.”

Though the Puffer Reds x Adidas Adistar “Track 45” is limited in numbers, it’s proving unbounded in inspiration. Allen and Holmes liken Puffer Reds to a family, exemplified by the growth and opportunity each of them has experienced in such a short time.

This is an example of what creative people can do when given resources and support, which fuels the dreams of young designers and those around them.

“Being from Ypsi, there’s not a lot of people with pull to be able to do stuff like this,” Holmes said. “Me being able to show my family that there’s more out there definitely feels good.”