Puma Taps Salehe Bembury To Run Their Basketball Division

Source: Marc Piasecki / Getty

Weeks after Crocs revealed their latest Salehe Bembury collaboration , it’s being reported that Bembury will continue to design even more footwear attire, but for an entirely different brand.

According to GQ, Salehe Bembury has just been tapped to take his talents to Puma, where he’ll be tasked with breathing some new and stylish life into their basketball sneakers division as they’ve been struggling to get heads to take notice of their sports line for quite some time. Interestingly enough, the man won’t just be designing their next silhouettes. Apparently, he’ll also be recruiting professional talent to join the brand as he works on what they’ll be rocking on the basketball court.

Per GQ :

“Salehe has had unrivaled success of bringing to life the intersection of sport, culture and fashion through product design and storytelling,” said Max Staiger, global head of basketball for Puma. Together, the new partnership “will bring game-changing newness and excitement to basketball athletes.”

“My designs are a platform for storytelling and cultivating community; an opportunity to breathe new meaning into a product,” Bembury said in a statement. “While my work has been known to cater to the outdoor space, a space I recently developed an intimate relationship with, my partnership with Puma Hoops will allow me to tell a more deeply rooted personal story.” Bembury has spoken of his deep-rooted love of basketball that he cultivated growing up in New York City in the 1990s. “I’ve played basketball my whole life and have a deep history, emotion, and nostalgia for the sport,” he said. “I’m excited to leverage this collaboration as a catalyst to introduce an untold side of me and engage a new community.”

Man it looks like Bembury has his work cut out for him as athletes tend to gravitate towards the brands that have a Swoosh or three stripes on the side of their sneakers. Still, if you offer them a big enough bag with a dope silhouette you might be able to sway some big names to a lesser popular brand like Puma or even Under Armour.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this pans out and who’ll they’ll be able to sign to rock Salehe’s next creation on the court.

What do y’all think of Puma’s initiative here? Let us know in the comments section below.