Hush Puppies

Hush Puppies

In 1958, cult American shoe brand Hush Puppies was creatively conceived. Famed for radically revolutionising contemporary casual footwear, they bounded onto the market when US tannery company Wolverine crafted a classic suede Oxford shoe, fashioned from a native American pigskin leather.

Hush Puppies owes its name to a colloquialism used after a Wolverine employee observed that his friends barking dogs were instantly silenced when fried cornmeal balls (also known as hush puppies) were thrown at them. At the same time, sore feet were also commonly known as barking dogs thus Hush Puppies was the new name given to the Wolverine shoe.

Offering both comfort and style, those comfortable brown suede shoes fast became a firm fashion favourite throughout the late 50's and the staple uniform for Mods everywhere in the swinging 60's. By 1965, Hush Puppies shoes had ensured that Wolverine successfully dominated the American casual footwear market.