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.

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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 PUMA sneaker?

In recent years, the slim silhouette has become very fashionable again, but I’m not someone who really follows fashion; it’s something I have always liked. I’m not a huge fan of the big, chunky silhouettes. A very slim silhouette feels more “pure” in a way; it goes to the essence of the meaning of a shoe, without having too much design or material over it.

How would you describe your overall approach to designing footwear?

Shoes are the most important accessory. They define the silhouette of a person and the way they walk and move. You can live without a bag to complete your outfit, but you cannot live without shoes. They keep you grounded on the earth and connect you with life and what we do during the day.

It’s not just slim shoes that I like. I love motorcycle boots, military combat boots, and even cowboy boots. But for sneakers, I was always attracted by that slim silhouette.

“Shoes are the most important accessory because they really define the silhouette of a person and the way they walk and move. You can live without a bag to complete your outfit, but you cannot live without shoes.”

What guided the colorways and material choices for the K-Street?

I think it’s nice to take the sport and technical aspects and translate them into something softer, neutral, and sophisticated. I always like this contradiction: how opposite elements meet and match together. It’s nice to give a different perspective to something that was born for technical reasons. That is why we have the nylon version in blue, which refers more to the sports attitude, and then we have the other two colors that are more versatile.

You once described the Jil Sander FW26 collection as “the olive in the Martini,” to convey how sometimes unnecessary details complete the style. Are there any similar details here?

In that interview, I was reflecting on whether something superfluous can be considered essential, so I thought about the olive in the Martini, because basically, we don’t know why it’s there. It’s this small element that may have created this cocktail, and it became so iconic.

I don’t know if I can apply that same concept to this project, but what is interesting about these shoes is that they were born for a specific reason and then mixed with elements inspired by a totally different sport. It’s like a cocktail of ideas from very different things that match together to become something beautiful.

“I always like this contradiction — how opposite elements meet and match together. It’s nice to give a different perspective to something that was born for technical reasons.”

The previous PUMA x Jil Sander Karate Low also informed this design. How did that factor in?

This shoe was born for running, and then was mixed with karate, which is not about running at all. It’s more about concentration and thinking. I read that people who run huge marathons reach a point where it isn’t about the intensity the body feels, but a mental process to keep the energy to go forward. I suppose karate is more static, but you need the same amount of concentration to do the right moves. I like that those two sports make sense together in that way.

Why do you think the relationship between sneaker culture and high fashion has remained so strong over the last 20 years? 

Sneakers represent a more casual approach that fashion needed at the time. [Now] they’ve become classic. I don’t see them as an intrusion into fashion. To me, they’re the same as a Goodyear shoe you wear for a celebration because you want to feel formal. Sneakers just represent another feeling.

Sneakers are versatile because they can go well with everything; it just depends on how you wear them. The contradiction — that you can wear a tailor-made jacket with a sports shoe and it works — is what is interesting.

What role do collaborations play for you at Jil Sander today?

I love it when companies specialize in something, and you can learn from that conversation. I don’t start a collaboration just because we need to make money from it. To me, it’s more so that the brand is relevant to something we are working on at the moment, when you need specific skills to create a product. Sometimes you need that “extra thing” that gives more meaning to the project. 

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The Jil Sander x PUMA K Street is set for release globally in the suede version at selected JIL SANDER stores and through retail partners, as well as online at Jilsander.com beginning April, 8th 2026. The blue nylon version will be exclusive to JIL SANDER retail and online channels.