Puma Power

Puma may not traditionally have much in common with luxury designer brands, but that all changed as PPR, the French conglomerate which owns Gucci and YSL, snapped up the controlling share in the sportswear group. "This is a favorable moment for the convergence of sport and fashion," said Francois-Henri Pinault, chairman and chief executive officer of PPR. The move may not be as incongrous as it first seems – last year Puma collaborated with PPR stable mate Alexander McQueen on a footwear range and it has always marketed itself as a lifestyle, rather than a sportwear, brand. "Both companies have a European background and ideally complement each other with regard to their global perspective," Puma's chief executive and chairman, Jochen Zeitz, added. PPR is now looking to buy the Puma brand outright and expand it on an international scale.

Puma meets Central Saint Martins

Puma has been collaborating with everyone from Jil Sander and Neil Barrett to Philippe Starck and most recently Alexander McQueen to create unique collections. This time Puma is teaming with the world's most famous fashion design school. Puma approached Central Saint Martins with a re-design project with a view to supporting young talent and becoming the proud sponsor of the graduate fashion show. The students were given the opportunity to re- design footwear from PUMA’s Super Hot List , which include iconic Puma styles like the GV and the London Trail Boot . 1st prize went to Georgy Baratashvili for the redesign of the Puma London Trail boot. Puma liked the dance shoe inspiration and the fact that it was designed as a unisex shoe. "The concept of having a shoe within another shoe is really clever too. Georgy had really considered the PUMA formstripe branding, which doubles as a functional part of the shoe."