MANILA, Philippines — Following successful Fenty collaborations with singer Rihanna, sports company Puma enlists Rihanna’s partner and father of her children, rapper A$AP Rocky, as new Creative Director for Puma x F1, the sports label’s long-term partnership with F1 announced early this year.
A musician, creative, and designer, A$AP Rocky will serve as the Creative Director for the category with a focus on the intersection of the sport and streetwear. Rocky will focus his energy and efforts on Puma’s new partnership with F1, developing bespoke capsules designed by him, that will influence the brand’s seasonal design directions moving forward.
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Puma’s partnership with F1 allows it to becoming the exclusive licensee and trackside retailer at all races. It aims to explore the impact that streetwear and fashion can play beyond the track.
“A$AP Rocky’s fashion knowledge, style and cultural expertise will bring a new perspective to the growing F1 audience,” Puma said in a statement.
“Rocky’s influence on the brand will be phased, most immediately taking on an incubator-style approach coined ‘in the lab’ to begin creative exploration for where he can take the category. For the remainder of this year, Rocky will impact visuals and video content for the brand. His first campaign, which he has been working behind the scenes as both creative director and producer, explores car culture in America and the impact it has on streetwear and fashion.”
Later this year, Rocky will drop an extremely limited apparel and accessories collection aiming to provide a sneak peek into a series of capsule collections in 2024 surrounding high-visibility F1 races.
In 2024, Rocky will focus his creative attention on several Grand Prix races beginning in Miami. These collections have been conceptualized and designed by him in partnership with the apparel brand and F1 teams. He will curate activations at each of the races and serve as the creative director for all of the marketing efforts surrounding these collections.
By 2025, Rocky plans to more fully immerse himself into the holistic product creative designs for all of the F1 collaboration products, spanning from race wear to fan wear and fashion. He will continue to participate in marketing in an ongoing effort to bring disruption to the category via innovative product design and marketing concepts.
“Working with brands as iconic as Puma, and as innovative as F1, has been truly inspiring,” said A$AP Rocky. “When the world sees what we’re doing, I believe a shift will happen with how brand’s approach taking risks and working with diverse creatives.”
Tapping musicians for key design posts has become a trend among apparel brands these days. Apart from Rihanna and A$AP Rocky, rapper Kanye West has also designed for Fendi, Adidas, and Gap; French house Lanvin appointed American rapper Future as its first Lanvin Labs collaboration project Creative Director; and singer Pharell Williams debuted his first collection as Louis Vuitton Creative Director for menswear at the recent Paris Men’s Fashion Week.