Austin Butler’s ‘Caught Stealing’ Puma sneakers should be in your rotation
The actor is seen wearing the Puma Easy Riders, a vintage-inspired running shoe from the '70s, in Darren Aronofsky's latest film

AUSTIN BUTLER has been on a tear for the Caught Stealing press run. He’s donned a divisive Henley top in Puerto Rico, a funky cardigan to Jimmy Fallon, a dainty Breitling watch to an early screening. As far as aspirational press tour styling goes, it’s pretty accessible compared to his previous extraterrestrial couture for Dune or rock ‘n’ roll tailoring for Elvis. In other words, Caught Stealing is moodboard material.
Except, if you look at the Darren Aronofsky film he’s promoting, Butler’s character Henry “Hank” Thompson’s wardrobe of blood-sprayed baseball caps, well-worn jeans and baggy workwear shirts is just as enviable, if not the current menswear look. Set photos from last year showed Butler running around Lower Manhattan with a cat in a bag and his co-stars trailing behind him, guns blazing. But what intrigued us were the sneakers he wore in these cat-and-mouse scenes. Doing a little digging, Butler’s sneakers are the Puma Easy Riders.

Initially, we thought they were the Puma Speedcats; filming coincided with the news that the retro sneaker was 2024 Q4’s hottest sneaker. With similar streamlined silhouettes and Formstrip, the Easy Rider instead features a chunkier rubber sole and elevated heel. Like the Speedcat, the Easy Riders were another archival model to receive the revival treatment as of late. Steeped in ’70s running culture, Easy Riders were popular during the period amongst English football fans and subversive youth movements like terrace culture. The Easy Rider makes sense, then, for Butler’s character running around the Big Apple, while the film’s New York City has the griminess of the ’70s.
Opting for the black-and-white pair in the film, the sneakers are also available in a slew of vibrant colourways, including the classic Puma red. So, expect the sneakers to sell out once the film hits theatres on August 28. And if you’re reading this by then, the Adidas Country OGs are another running shoe making its quiet ascent. (It got the Song For The Mute collab cosign, too.) Running is so back?

Puma Easy Rider Vintage Sneakers
‘Caught Stealing’ is in Australian cinemas from August 28.
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