RIHANNA PARTNERS WITH PUMA

It’s great to find a brand that celebrates strength and individuality. I couldn't think of a more perfect partner to collaborate with as a creative director. I'm excited for you to see what Puma and I come up with.


If you were anywhere on the internet over the last couple days, you'll know that PUMA and Global Cultural icon Rihanna, announced a new multi-year partnership, kicking off in January 2015!

I had mixed feelings when I heard the news, but I'm definitely intrigued none the less. There have definitely been some real mixed and controversial reactions to Rihanna's new position posted over social media, so I decided to do some digging myself. I found it really interesting chatting to people about what they think, so check out everything you need to know about the new partnership, and then have a read of some different opinions to the news below! 

Rihanna will become PUMA’s global ambassador for Women’s Training and serve as the PUMA Women’s Creative Director, bringing her styling sensibilities and innovation to PUMA’s collections.  Embodying everything that PUMA stands for, Rihanna’s unstoppable spirit, creative energy and prowess both on and off the stage, make her the perfect representation of the PUMA brand.  Through this partnership, Rihanna will be the face of PUMA’s Women’s Training category. Fans can anticipate PUMA and Rihanna taking a fresh, forward thinking and non-traditional approach to sports, fitness and lifestyle – fusing Rihanna’s personality, love of sports, spirit and style into the growing footwear and apparel segment. Rihanna is no stranger to breaking the mould with beauty, fashion and lifestyle trends, so with PUMA’s support, Rihanna will no doubt bring her personal touch and creativity to the athletic world.

Click Read More for all the info, and for the different reactions to the new partnership! 

Rihanna will assume the role of PUMA’s Creative Director. As part of her role, Rihanna will work with PUMA to design and customise classic PUMA styles as well as create new styles to add to the PUMA product portfolio! Embodying her confidence and style, for now we can only imagine what this collaboration will produce.

We're really intrigued to see what Rihanna's input is for the PUMA brand and it's womenswear line. In my opinion PUMA have gone from strength to strength over the last year and this can only lead to bigger and better things...right?

Check out some other opinions on the news below!   

"My honest opinion is I think it's good for the Brand but Rihanna is controversial at times are Puma Ready for that?? But all in all im excited to see the future !! I like Puma so I hope this is a win win situation for both parties! I also hope that it's not just a pay cheque!"

Nathan - Fresh Laces
"Rihanna signing for Puma is a massive move them. She is arguably the biggest pop star in the world and she is the type of artist who has a big influence in popular culture so whatever she wears, people will go out and buy that style to look like her. So commercially it's a great deal for Puma and just goes to show how big sneaker culture is in the world right now. I think Puma have seen the success Adidas have had this year with celebrity endorsed shoes such as the Pharrell & Rita Ora collections and they want to go that same route
All in all it's a positive for the community as a whole."

Jaye Taylor-Ward - Common Knowledge
"I just think that just because she's a celebrity doesn't necessarily mean she can walk into a company as creative director and take the brand in a certain direction, or do a better job than any other creative person. She has no previous ties with Puma, so it makes no sense to me that she can just walk in and become one of the most influential people in the company."

Hannah - Hannah Louise F
"My first reaction to the news was one of dubiousness - Creative Director is obviously a massive role, and it seems strange to me that Rihanna (who obviously has a lot going on already) would have the time or the skill-set to fulfil it. That being said, I appreciate that she also probably won't be quite as hands on as your usual CD. In summary I'm definitely hesitant, but Rihanna has an undeniably vast influential power in the fashion word and so I am looking forward to seeing if she'll change the direction of the brand at all."

Kitty Cowell - The Unisex Mode 
"It's good to see girls in the sneaker scene, but I'm not sure if Rihanna is the best role model. Her style is sometimes amazing but I don't like how much she uses sex to sell herself. I don't want that to be used within the female sneaker scene. I started a blog to represent the opposite of that."

"I hate it it's bullshit. What is she actually gonna do? It's all fake anyway - she isn't actually gonna do it. Someone's gonna come up with a sick idea and just say she came up with it. Just in the same way Diddy does nothing for Ciroc - It's just celeb placement to a brand...Zzzz!!"

Lei-Mai Le Maow - iLL sessions
"Finding out that Rihanna had become creative director for Puma came as no suprise, it's a very clever move by Puma as they compete with other big dogs in the game, Nike and Adidas.There's no doubt about her individuality in the commercial world. She is always on point with fashion, not being afraid to wear or in fact do what she wants and her background in sports and training will also play a good part in her role. It'll be interesting to see how the ranges evolve with her input!"

"2014 has seen an unrivalled amount of celebrity tie ups with sportswear brands with Adidas alone having Rita Ora, Pharrell, Nigo and next week the first collab with Pusha T. Personally the amount has felt a little overwhelming and diluted the impact each collection should have delivered due to the frequency of the launches. Even as an avid sneakerhead I have had to be very selective about what I can and cannot buy into, otherwise no one would be receiving any Christmas presents this year! It'll be interesting to see the relationship Rihanna has with Puma, as this has been announced as a creative director role rather than designer/collaborator. I'm hoping she fully supports in a similar vein to Rita but brings out a more adult range like her River Island collections, as for me Rita felt very targeted to young kids with only a few items having any appeal to anyone over 25!  Puma have never for me had that strong connection to music like they do in sports with Usain Bolt, so she'll tick that box and in terms of bringing the cool/sexy factor she'll deliver in bundles. My only concern is this feels like a money rather than synergy with the brand type set up as Rih has always sported J's, but the future will decide whether this is as good for Puma as it will be for Rihanna."

Get involved and let us know what you think over on the Talk Casuals Facebook Page


Popular Posts