PUMA appoints Hussein Chalayan as Creative Director

Designer, artist and film maker, Hussein Chalayan will provide PUMA with his taste for innovation, the avant-garde and daring. Joining PPR will also enable him to make his own brand more dynamic.

 

This is not just a short-lived relationship between PUMA and Hussein Chalayan – they, indeed, announced their wedding. In fact, PUMA has just acquired a majority stake in the brand which is owned by the London-based Cypriot designer. And what’s more, Hussein Chalayan was appointed PUMA’s Creative Director. He will be directly responsible for supervising Puma’s more fashion forward ranges and will touch on footwear, apparel and accessories. His influence will be initially reflected in the fall 2009 collections.

 

“Hussein Chalayan is a proven visionary in the fashion, design and art industries”, says Jochen Zeitz, PUMA Chairman and CEO. “He will bring his use of new technology, his forward-thinking design and his provocative point of view to PUMA”.

 

The stylist has a reputation for being bold and experimental. He has been known for having models parade down catwalks wearing skirts and dresses that open by remote con-trol, creating clothes that turn into pieces of furniture or replacing pearl accessories with electrical garlands. A graduate of the Saint Martin’s School of Arts in London, his research on body and clothes has seen him twice named British Designer of the Year. Many of his creations are works of art themselves. Hussein Chalayan is also a film maker and has pro-duced short and feature-length.

PUMA was the first brand to call on the expertise of external creators like Jil Sander in 1998, an idea that many others have since copied. For PUMA, Chalayan is not just another partnership – it is a long-term marriage. “We are beginning a new stage in our development with Hussein”, emphasises Jochen Zeitz. “This means that we want him to work inside the group and be more than just a collaborator”. This extra step is intended to make PUMA the most desirable global “sportlifestyle” company. The objective is to go far beyond the current limits of sports and fashion and to turn innovation and technology into desire for the brand.

 

With his entry into PPR, Hussein Chalayan will find support, expertise and platforms capable of helping his own brand to develop. He will be in good company with cousins full of talent such as Stella McCartney, Balenciaga or Alexander McQueen.