When designing her new FENTY x PUMA Avanti shoes, Rihanna found inspiration in her love of the sport of soccer.
“I was inspired by the culture of it. I’ve always been obsessed with soccer cleats, because I was never a soccer player – not even at school,” she told Access Hollywood’s kid correspondent Lyla at the shoe’s debut. “But I always loved it, and I always thought there was something aesthetically there that was enticing to me.”
Rihanna said she jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with Puma, calling the brand “soccer heaven.”
“Puma knows everything about soccer. There’s such a huge history here. I got the opportunity to recreate and re-embellish one of their classics – the Avanti – which was a shoe that king Pelé used to wear.”
The singer and multi-talented entrepreneur also shared how her kids provided some inspiration for the project.
“I wanted them to wear my shoes. That was probably a little selfish, right?” she joked.
“I also wanted to inspire my kids,” she added of her design. “I wanted to show them a new realm of creativity, because this is something that they could have missed in my lifetime. They’ll be able to see me as an entrepreneur and a businesswoman in beauty. They’ll be able to see me with apparel design, and even charity. But for them to see me design and reimagine things that are already there and a part of the world, and such a huge culture, it was a big deal for me to just get to do something I love and something they can experience from scratch.”
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