Rihanna’s Fenty and Puma brands have decided to join forces again with their latest upcoming release, the Avanti, reimagined by the singer and entrepreneur. Miss Fenty will be returning in her old role as the Creative Director of Fenty X Puma. The Avanti is a remix of two iconic Puma shoes—the King football boot and their heritage running shoe, the Easy Rider. This dynamic recreation is the perfect piece to re-emerge with as Rihanna and Puma were known for launching sneakers that had us doing double takes with their sporty styles. Remember the iconic Creeper sneaker? Between 2015 and 2018, Rihanna collaborated with Puma to produce a series of clothing and footwear collections that had everyone anticipating the next big drop. Their partnership also featured four fashion shows held in both Paris and New York.
The Avanti shoe will be available for kids as well as a unisex shoe for adults so the whole family can rock them. The original Puma King football boot was worn by icons like Pelé, Eusebio, and Maradona in 1968. Then in 1978, the Puma Easy Rider emerged from being a new jogging shoe franchise. In 1998, Puma partnered with Jil Sander to blend the two styles together, creating the Jil Sander King. All of these different versions of the shoe served as inspiration for the Avanti sneaker born in 2001. The latest version has added touches by Rihanna herself with creative and design element details from the leather used to the outsoles of the shoe.
“I wanted to bring something iconic from the archives to the street, and the late great Pelé made the Avanti shoe so iconic.” said Rihanna.
The Avanti comes in a chrome silver and black colorways made of buttery soft vintage leather, a long tongue you can fold over, embossed with the Fenty X Puma joint logos. The sneaker’s leather footbed and gum outsoles are a nod to the deep rooted history and heritage that Puma has with the sport of football. In the campaign for the new drop, the face was, of course, Rihanna donning the shoe shot by photographer Dennis Leupold.
“It’s been such an exciting start to our partnership,” said Maria Valdes, Chief Product Officer at PUMA. “We spent time together opening up the PUMA archive and identifying the right product that spoke to Rihanna. The Avanti is a PUMA classic with a unique and iconic point of view on terrace. I’m very happy to see this project come to life and even more excited for what the coming years have in store for us together.”
The Fenty x Puma Avanti will be available worldwide on puma.pcom and select retailers on September 15th. A second Avanti drop will be released this fall. Stay tuned for details.