Joining the ever growing list of designers lending their creative muscle to sportswear (see Stella McCartney for Adidas, Kim Jones for Umbro, and Junya Watanabe for Nike) is Hussein Chalayan for lifestyle brand Puma. Announced at a press conference held in Paris, Chalayan will helm all creative duties at Puma who have incidentally bought a majority stake in Chalayan’s eponymous label.
“Hussein Chalayan is a proven visionary in the fashion, design and art industries,” said PUMA’s CEO, Jochen Zeitz. “[He] will bring his use of new technology, forward-thinking design and provocative point of view to PUMA”. Owning shares in Chalayan’s label, he added, “would move PUMA into a new space, expanding our reach to become the most desirable sport-lifestyle company in the world.”
For fashion lovers this could see the marriage of technologically advanced materials and design driven concepts in the context of wearable sportswear. We simply cannot wait!
For evidence of this man’s genius take a look at his now legendary Spring/Summer 2007 show which climaxed with a model’s dress disappearing into her hat.
