The T7 was Puma's first step from footwear into clothing. Puma's newsroom says Rudolf Dassler first conceived a Puma tracksuit in 1967, and the training suit made its debut in 1968, as the company set out to dress the growing number of athletes and teams it supplied. Its name comes from the Formstrip, here turned into a band 7 centimetres wide, conically tapered and in a contrasting colour, running down the sleeves and legs.
The first version was a lightweight training suit that fitted closer than the one known today, with slim tapered trousers, zipped hems and elastic stirrups. Puma's CATch up magazine says it came in two colours, dark blue and white, and in two versions: the cat with the Puma name for teams, and the cat alone for retail customers. The first team kitted out in it was the German club Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Its comfort and look carried the T7 off the training ground into hip-hop and b-boy culture, and it has stayed in Puma's range ever since. Puma reworked it as a full collection in 2022, including a T7 blazer and high-waisted shorts, and it has appeared in collaborations with labels such as Koché and Palomo.