The demand for fashionable active wear has been in high demand in the last few years and brands are taking notice. Mr. Phillip Green, creating a new line with Beyonce, the launch of net-a-sporter and H&M all focusing more on activewear, and now Puma is clearly upping its game.
Rihanna will focus on fitness as well as their training wear including footwear. The company have said She will update classic Puma styles, as well as create new ones for their current portfolio.
For the meeting Rihanna showed she was the perfect women for the job, perfectly mixing luxe sweatpants, Puma sneakers which were customized for the meeting, combined with a white vintage corset, Yves Saint Laurent sweater and draped in pearls. The perfecter combination of sporty chic.
Rihanna is certainly one to push the envelope with fashion and it seems her new Puma position will be no exception. Saying the whole thing felt a little bit surreal, she commented that she was looking forward to experimenting and taking risks, passionately saying "that’s what I’m most excited about — the creative freedom.”
Bjørn Gulden, Puma's CEO said, 'Signing Rihanna is a fantastic step for Puma." continuing "We're delighted to have her as a partner, and we're looking forward to what's to come."
On top of the new role the creative director, Rihanna will also be the global brand ambassador for the brand and will be the face of the 2015 campaign.
The sales figures for Puma have been declining the last three years however increased this year in the third quarter, and this is a clear attempt to keep the brands profit on the increase. This will be the first time that the brand have brought on a celebrity as creative director and it's a smart move. Rihanna has a huge following with over 14 million followers on Instagram and over 38 million followers on twitter.
This won't be Rihanna's first venture into fashion. She has previously collaborated with River Island to create a collection, and had also collaborated with MAC cosmetics.
Rihanna says she plans to make Puma, 'more hip, basically more Rihanna'.
Rihanna will officially begin her position in January 2015.