Rihanna Takes Over Puma Athletics

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Puma has a new Creative Director for their women’s athletic wear and her name is Rihanna. The R&B singer went to the headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany on Monday December 15th for her first design session that will include both apparel and shoes. The singer is not only Creative Director, but Global Brand Ambassador for the company too. Initially, Puma wanted Rihanna to be the face of their brand, but she wanted to be much more. She wanted to aide in the restructuring of the company by helping with concept, ideas and overall direction. Because Puma identifies itself as having body confidence, bravery and determination, they felt Rihanna symbolized the same or as Adam Petrick (Global Brand & Marketing Director of Puma) put it, “she pushes the limits and “she’s a game changer.”
The brand is currently struggling to keep up with such competitors as Nike and Adidas, so this comes at just the right time that they enlist the help of the newly titled “Fashion Icon.” This will be a multi year partnership for Rihanna who will be featured next year in the 2015 Fall campaign. She recently told Womens Wear Daily (WWD), she wants to  “modernize it [Puma] by highlighting the classics and going from things that make Puma Puma — give it a youthfulness, make it hip.”   This stands to be a great investment for Puma because Rihanna has already successfully represented other high profile brands such as Gucci, Giorgio Armani, MAC and Balmain.
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www.nytimes.com