Rihanna returns with a new Avanti sneaker

Rihanna and Puma have officially unveiled their latest joint product franchise. The sportswear manufacturer and the pop star had already announced the renewed collaboration in March. Now the artist returns to the brand as creative director of Fenty x Puma with a multi-year partnership and several planned product launches.

The comeback starts with a reinterpretation of the Avanti sneaker. Rihanna’s love of football, coupled with the sport’s great influence, is what influenced the choice of model. The interpretation of the classic style will mark the “beginning of a new era of sports fashion collaborations,” the company announces. 

Rihanna and Puma have continued to launch new models throughout their collaboration – starting in 2015 with the Creeper model. From 2015 to 2018, the artist and Puma launched several footwear and apparel collections, including the Fenty x Puma sneaker, the Fenty x Puma Fur slides and more. 

With four fashion shows in New York and Paris, Fenty x Puma has played an essential role in enhancing Puma’s influence and relevance over the past decade.

In 1968, the Puma King football shoe was launched, worn by legends such as Eusebio, Pelé and Maradona. In 1978, a new jogging shoe franchise was launched with the Puma Miele, which eventually evolved into the Puma Easy Rider. In 1998, Jil Sander and Puma launched the Jil Sander King, the first fashion collaboration that combined the two styles. This shoe served as the design inspiration for the Avanti, which was later launched by Puma in 2001.

Now Rihanna has added her own personal design to the classic model. The shoe comes in a black and white version as well as in silver. “I wanted to bring something iconic from the archives to the streets, and the great Pele just made the Avanti shoe legendary,” says Rihanna.

“It’s an exciting start to our partnership,” adds Maria Valdes, Chief Product Officer at Puma. “We spent a lot of time together going through the Puma archives and finding the right product for Rihanna. I’m thrilled to see this project come to life and even more excited to see what the next few years have in store for us.”   

The campaign for the launch was photographed by Dennis Leupold. The set design is inspired by the shape of a pentagon and the stitching of a football, and features Rihanna herself as well as familiar names such as A$AP Nast, Pure and Felix Mallard, and two young children.

The Avanti is launched as a unisex shoe for adults and children and will be available worldwide from September 15 on the Puma website and at selected retailers. The models are priced between 85 and 170 euros. A second drop will follow this autumn.