The Speedcat is one of those shapes you either get instantly or walk right past: low, narrow, with a flat sole that sits against the ground like it was pulled out of a rally car. That is roughly where it came from, since Puma originally built the Speedcat as a motorsport shoe. The black-and-white OG is back in stock at Puma itself, and that is the actual news here, because in this colorway it had been gone from their own shop for a while.
The price gap is where it gets interesting for me. In euros Puma lists it at €37,95. The regular retailers sit higher: the Italian and German shops we track hover around €64, and the resale and consignment listings climb to roughly €89 and up, past €100 at one boutique. Same shoe, same code, different sticker, and the cheapest one happens to be the brand’s own store.
For UK and US buyers the picture is thinner. There is a single sterling listing around £85, and the dollar offers run from about $68 to $105, almost all of it resale or boutique rather than Puma direct, so factor in shipping and import before you hold that up against the €37,95. Buying at the source also means you simply pick your size and send it back if it does not fit, instead of trusting a listing you can’t inspect.
Suede, a white Formstrip, and nothing else
The photo shows why it has lasted. A black suede upper, the white Puma Formstrip curving along the side toward the toe, a small gold Puma wordmark on the heel, and that thin, smooth sole underneath. That is the whole shoe, and that is the point. It runs low and on the narrow side, so wide feet are better off going half a size up. Otherwise it minds its own business: under straight jeans, cargos or a skirt it just works without taking over the outfit.
Mind the GS: these are junior sizes
Here is the catch, because that low number does not come from nowhere. This is the GS version, grade school, meaning the junior size run. That is why €37,95 is possible, and it is also why this exact code sits high on resale: smaller sizes are scarcer. If you have a smaller foot or you are after a small women’s size, this is the smart route and you get the same shoe for less than half of what it costs elsewhere. Size above that and you need the adult Speedcat, which is a different code at a different price, so don’t read this number and get ahead of yourself. The quiet deals almost always live in the size most people skip, as long as you actually fit it.
My advice: work out which size you really need before that €37,95 pulls you in. On the Puma Speedcat model page you can see the colorways side by side, and the comparison tool shows which size is still in stock at which shop, and whether that low price is really there in your size.