{"id":25292,"date":"2026-05-21T07:42:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/footwearmagazine.com\/?p=25292"},"modified":"2026-05-21T07:42:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T13:42:38","slug":"rihannas-second-puma-chapter-ends-amid-changing-sneaker-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/footwearmagazine.com\/?p=25292","title":{"rendered":"Rihanna\u2019s Second Puma Chapter Ends Amid Changing Sneaker Trends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rihanna\u2019s revived partnership with Puma<\/a> through Fenty x Puma has quietly come to an end, closing a three\u2011year deal that never quite recreated the magic of her first Puma era.\u00a0The wrap\u2011up comes as\u00a0A$AP Rocky\u2019s design contract with\u00a0Puma\u00a0also winds down, signaling a broader reset in the brand\u2019s celebrity partnerships.<\/p>\n

Partnership conclusion<\/h2>\n

According to a\u00a0Snobette<\/a>\u00a0report citing a confidential but \u201creliable\u201d source,\u00a0Rihanna\u2019s multi\u2011year\u00a0Fenty x Puma\u00a0deal has run its course, with no renewal in place. The same source said\u00a0A$AP Rocky\u2019s contract has expired as well, with his final Puma designs landing in stores this spring. The article notes that\u00a0Puma\u00a0did not respond to a request for comment before publication, underscoring that news of the partnership\u2019s end is based on insider information rather than an official press release.<\/p>\n

Two Puma eras for Rihanna<\/h2>\n

Rihanna\u00a0first signed on with\u00a0Puma\u00a0in\u00a02014\u00a0under a\u00a0three\u2011year\u00a0agreement that made her a global ambassador and creative director for womenswear. She later told\u00a0Vogue\u00a0that this initial run wrapped with a final\u00a0spring 2018\u00a0collection, marking the end of what many fans now call\u00a0Fenty by Puma 1.0.<\/p>\n

The revived partnership was announced in\u00a0March 2023\u00a0as another\u00a0three\u2011year\u00a0contract, but structurally, the second era looked very different from the first in terms of company leadership, budget, and Rihanna\u2019s own lifestyle and business commitments.<\/p>\n

Why Fenty by Puma 1.0 hit so big<\/h2>\n

In that first era, then\u2011CEO\u00a0Bj\u00f8rn Gulden\u00a0(now leading\u00a0Adidas) was still at the helm of\u00a0Puma, and\u00a0Rihanna\u00a0had not yet launched\u00a0Fenty Beauty\u00a0or\u00a0Savage X Fenty. The line tapped directly into the early luxury streetwear wave in\u00a0New York\u00a0and\u00a0Los Angeles, most famously with the Creeper silhouette inspired by a\u00a0Mr Completely x 424\u00a0shoe her stylist\u00a0Jahleel Weaver\u00a0had sourced.<\/p>\n

The original Creeper was a breakout success, eventually winning\u00a0Footwear News\u2019 Shoe of the Year in 2016, with the publication reporting that in\u00a0Q3 2016, Puma\u2019s footwear sales rose\u00a016.4 percent, attributing much of that lift to the Fenty line. Generous budgets funded bold runway shows in\u00a0New York\u00a0and\u00a0Paris, plus wide\u2011ranging apparel drops placed in luxury department stores, creating a full fashion universe rather than a basic logo capsule.<\/p>\n

The 2023 comeback and Avanti launch<\/h2>\n

When\u00a0Fenty x Puma\u00a0returned in\u00a02023, new CEO\u00a0Arne Freundt\u00a0was in place under a\u00a0four\u2011year\u00a0contract starting\u00a0January 1, 2023, though he departed within about two years over \u201cdiffering views on strategy execution.\u201d Meanwhile, Rihanna\u2019s schedule was far fuller: she opened\u00a02023\u00a0with a\u00a0Super Bowl LVII\u00a0halftime show (wearing\u00a0Salomon\u00a0sneakers), continued leading\u00a0Savage X Fenty\u00a0as CEO until June, and welcomed her second child, Riot, in\u00a0August.<\/p>\n

The comeback centered on the\u00a0Avanti, a low\u2011profile soccer\u2011inspired shoe designed to meet rising demand around silhouettes like the\u00a0Adidas Samba, but the timing and execution were challenging. A seven\u2011month gap between announcing the partnership and releasing the first Avanti, plus a\u00a0170\u2011dollar\u00a0price point for the metallic silver colorway, made the launch feel slow and expensive next to a roughly\u00a0100\u2011dollar\u00a0Samba.<\/p>\n

Product choices and cooling buzz<\/h2>\n

Subsequent Avanti drops in forest green and navy were offered in full\u2011family size runs, but the article characterizes these color choices as \u201coff,\u201d especially in a crowded market where consumers had many lifestyle sneaker options. The much\u2011anticipated return of the Creeper in\u00a0November\u00a0was pitched as \u201cthe same as the OG Creeper but bigger and badder,\u201d yet it met a softer response.<\/p>\n

A women\u2019s footwear buyer quoted in the piece felt the Creeper\u2019s 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\u2019s current image as a mother of two balancing family and business. The new Creeper\u2019s bulkier build also clashed with a broader trend toward sleeker silhouettes.<\/p>\n

Cultural shifts and coordination challenges<\/h2>\n

The article highlights how Rihanna\u2019s long gap between albums since\u00a02016\u00a0reduced her footprint in music\u2011driven cultural conversation as new pop stars emerged. That shift meant less constant, organic buzz feeding directly into her sneaker projects compared to the mid\u20112010s.<\/p>\n

At the same time, multiple accounts cited in the piece describe Rihanna as a very hands\u2011on creative whose increasingly complex schedule made coordination harder, often delaying design approvals, photoshoots, and appearances for Fenty x Puma.<\/p>\n

Puma\u2019s financial pressure and lower support<\/h2>\n

On the corporate side,\u00a0Puma\u00a0faced growing investor concern after issuing weaker guidance in\u00a02024, then reporting disappointing Q4 results and a surprise drop in\u00a02024\u00a0net profit in\u00a0January 2025, which sent shares down nearly\u00a018 percent\u00a0on one of its worst trading days. Even so, insiders told Snobette the company still valued Rihanna\u2019s visibility and reach.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Fenty x Puma Cat Cleat sandal\u00a0were introduced with just a small, two\u2011image campaign. At\u00a0New York Fashion Week\u00a0in\u00a0February 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.<\/p>\n

A moment that could not be repeated<\/h2>\n

The piece ultimately argues that Fenty x Puma\u2019s second chapter did not \u201cfail\u201d so much as it tried to recreate a specific mid\u20112010s moment that no longer existed. Back then, streetwear still felt insurgent, Rihanna was a carefree chart\u2011topping pop star, and consumers were excited about loud, playful fashion; by\u00a02023, all three conditions had materially changed.<\/p>\n

Instead of a simple reboot, the partnership ran into new cultural tastes, price sensitivity after the pandemic stimulus era, and competing demands on Rihanna\u2019s time, all of which made it harder for the line to recapture its original energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rihanna\u2019s revived partnership with Puma through Fenty x Puma has quietly come to an end, closing a three\u2011year…","protected":false},"author":219894228,"featured_media":25293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","pad_hide_post_author":"","csco_display_header_overlay":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_location_hash":"","csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1408],"tags":[1497,1496,4248],"class_list":{"0":"post-25292","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-fenty","9":"tag-puma","10":"tag-rihanna","11":"cs-entry","12":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"\nRihanna\u2019s Second Puma Chapter Ends Amid Changing Sneaker Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/footwearmagazine.com\/?p=25292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rihanna\u2019s Second Puma Chapter Ends Amid Changing Sneaker Trends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rihanna\u2019s revived partnership with Puma through Fenty x Puma has quietly come to an end, closing a three\u2011year…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/footwearmagazine.com\/?p=25292\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Footwear Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/footwearmagazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-21T13:42:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/footwearmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/23AW_PR_SP_Fenty_Q3_Main-Talent_2463.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Alyssa J. 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