Rihanna’s Second Puma Chapter Ends Amid Changing Sneaker Trends

Rihanna’s revived partnership with Puma through Fenty x Puma has quietly come to an end, closing a three‑year deal that never quite recreated the magic of her first Puma era. The wrap‑up comes as A$AP Rocky’s design contract with Puma also winds down, signaling a broader reset in the brand’s celebrity partnerships.

Partnership conclusion

According to a Snobette report citing a confidential but “reliable” source, Rihanna’s multi‑year Fenty x Puma deal has run its course, with no renewal in place. The same source said A$AP Rocky’s contract has expired as well, with his final Puma designs landing in stores this spring. The article notes that Puma did not respond to a request for comment before publication, underscoring that news of the partnership’s end is based on insider information rather than an official press release.

Two Puma eras for Rihanna

Rihanna first signed on with Puma in 2014 under a three‑year agreement that made her a global ambassador and creative director for womenswear. She later told Vogue that this initial run wrapped with a final spring 2018 collection, marking the end of what many fans now call Fenty by Puma 1.0.

The revived partnership was announced in March 2023 as another three‑year contract, but structurally, the second era looked very different from the first in terms of company leadership, budget, and Rihanna’s own lifestyle and business commitments.

Why Fenty by Puma 1.0 hit so big

In that first era, then‑CEO Bjørn Gulden (now leading Adidas) was still at the helm of Puma, and Rihanna had not yet launched Fenty Beauty or Savage X Fenty. The line tapped directly into the early luxury streetwear wave in New York and Los Angeles, most famously with the Creeper silhouette inspired by a Mr Completely x 424 shoe her stylist Jahleel Weaver had sourced.

The original Creeper was a breakout success, eventually winning Footwear News’ Shoe of the Year in 2016, with the publication reporting that in Q3 2016, Puma’s footwear sales rose 16.4 percent, attributing much of that lift to the Fenty line. Generous budgets funded bold runway shows in New York and Paris, plus wide‑ranging apparel drops placed in luxury department stores, creating a full fashion universe rather than a basic logo capsule.

The 2023 comeback and Avanti launch

When Fenty x Puma returned in 2023, new CEO Arne Freundt was in place under a four‑year contract starting January 1, 2023, though he departed within about two years over “differing views on strategy execution.” Meanwhile, Rihanna’s schedule was far fuller: she opened 2023 with a Super Bowl LVII halftime show (wearing Salomon sneakers), continued leading Savage X Fenty as CEO until June, and welcomed her second child, Riot, in August.

The comeback centered on the Avanti, a low‑profile soccer‑inspired shoe designed to meet rising demand around silhouettes like the Adidas Samba, but the timing and execution were challenging. A seven‑month gap between announcing the partnership and releasing the first Avanti, plus a 170‑dollar price point for the metallic silver colorway, made the launch feel slow and expensive next to a roughly 100‑dollar Samba.

Product choices and cooling buzz

Subsequent Avanti drops in forest green and navy were offered in full‑family size runs, but the article characterizes these color choices as “off,” especially in a crowded market where consumers had many lifestyle sneaker options. The much‑anticipated return of the Creeper in November was pitched as “the same as the OG Creeper but bigger and badder,” yet it met a softer response.

A women’s footwear buyer quoted in the piece felt the Creeper’s comeback came too soon for original fans, many of whom still had pairs in their closets, while younger shoppers were less emotionally tied to Rihanna’s current image as a mother of two balancing family and business. The new Creeper’s bulkier build also clashed with a broader trend toward sleeker silhouettes.

Cultural shifts and coordination challenges

The article highlights how Rihanna’s long gap between albums since 2016 reduced her footprint in music‑driven cultural conversation as new pop stars emerged. That shift meant less constant, organic buzz feeding directly into her sneaker projects compared to the mid‑2010s.

At the same time, multiple accounts cited in the piece describe Rihanna as a very hands‑on creative whose increasingly complex schedule made coordination harder, often delaying design approvals, photoshoots, and appearances for Fenty x Puma.

Puma’s financial pressure and lower support

On the corporate side, Puma faced growing investor concern after issuing weaker guidance in 2024, then reporting disappointing Q4 results and a surprise drop in 2024 net profit in January 2025, which sent shares down nearly 18 percent on one of its worst trading days. Even so, insiders told Snobette the company still valued Rihanna’s visibility and reach.

Despite that, Fenty x Puma 2.0 did not receive the same level of investment as the first run: there were no runway shows, apparel was minimal and lightly promoted, and clever designs like the Fenty x Puma Cat Cleat sandal were introduced with just a small, two‑image campaign. At New York Fashion Week in February 2024, Puma staged a splashy Mostro relaunch, but neither Rihanna nor Rocky attended, and Fenty x Puma was not tied into the shoe despite the potential synergy.

A moment that could not be repeated

The piece ultimately argues that Fenty x Puma’s second chapter did not “fail” so much as it tried to recreate a specific mid‑2010s moment that no longer existed. Back then, streetwear still felt insurgent, Rihanna was a carefree chart‑topping pop star, and consumers were excited about loud, playful fashion; by 2023, all three conditions had materially changed.

Instead of a simple reboot, the partnership ran into new cultural tastes, price sensitivity after the pandemic stimulus era, and competing demands on Rihanna’s time, all of which made it harder for the line to recapture its original energy.