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German sportswear giant Puma made a comeback at New York Fashion Week after its previous collaborative collection with Rihanna's fashion house, Fenty, in 2017. On September 13, 2022, Puma presented an immersive runway show at the New York Fashion Week through its Futrograde collection.
The collection showcased the past, present, and future of the brand. Alongside an immersive fashion show, Puma launched a parallel metaverse fashion show experience called Black Station. This included exclusive and limited edition NFTs that will later be redeemable with physical sneakers.
The German sportswear brought together a whole lot of experience that attracted fans and enthusiasts globally, so here are the three things to know about the successful New York Fashion Week show.
Top 3 things to know about the latest Puma Futrograde collection presented at the New York Fashion Week
1) The debut fashion show by June Ambrose
June Ambrose joined the German sportswear giant as the Creative Director back in 2020 and has greatly enhanced the sportswear label's fashion dynamics since then. In 2021, she launched her first High Court collection, which was also the German label's first-ever basketball collection.
Additionally, the designer didn't hold back from creativity for her first fashion show of the Spring 2023 season. Not only did the designer curate a full show, but she also debuted over 40 personally designed items in her first-ever co-branded collaboration. In an interview with Paper Magazine, June Ambrose commented on her debut fashion show as a creative director:
"It’s not just a collection it’s a brand moment. So I think it started from that context and then we asked how do we express that we want to play in the fashion sportswear space and be respected on the street-culture level which is an integral part of the DNA of what I’ve been developing."
She created a non-traditional show and bridged the gap between high fashion, sportswear, and hip-hop. Moreover, Ambrose riffed on Puma house codes and reimagined archival silhouettes such as T7 tracksuits. She further took the brand's future into restrospect with the onslaught of the Y2K trend cycles.
2) The collection featured multiple collaborations
Across the women's and men's collections presented at NYFW, the collection features upcoming collaborations, custom pieces, future-leaning looks, and more that emphasize elevated, active, and expressive styles. Chief Brand Office of Puma, Adam Oetrick, commented on the collaborative aspects of the show in the official press release,
“Returning to fashion week for the first time in several years is significant for us because we knew we needed the right combination of factors to be present. With an emphasis on digital, a great line up of ambassadors and an amazing creative partner in June Ambrose, the foundation and creativity for a great show are there. And we’re excited that this can be the moment for us to bring it to life.”
Collaborations with AC Milan, Palomo, Dapper Dan, Koche, and more represented a significant part of the show. Each collaborative brand interpreted the brand's heritage with a unique twist. The featured collaborations are as follows:
AC Milan - The collaboration between AC Milan and Puma reached back to the heritage roots to celebrate the Paninari sub-culture. The drop was inspired by a group of youngsters who frequently visited Paninari Cafe in the Milanese metropolitan area. The collection pieces celebrate the subversive group of street wearers and feature storytelling patches, embroidered details, and premium woven labels.
Dapper Dan - The Dapper Dan collaboration for the Futrograde show took inspiration from the idea of a pre-game runway. The collaboration combines the German sportswear giant's active heritage with Dapper Dan's exquisite artistry to create a luxury upcycled collection. The collection pieces are complemented with tailored styles, elevated colors, and knitted materials.
June Ambrose - The creative director also co-branded her first-ever collection with Puma, dubbed the 'Keeping Score'. The collection explores the ideas of how a community of women keep score for one another and ourselves. It presented the idea of reflection.
Koche - The Paris-based fashion label Koche marked its first collaboration with Puma. The collaborative collection celebrates women at the intersection of fitness, fashion, and femininity. The pieces blurred the line between lifestyle and performance silhouettes.
Palomo - The Palomo Spain and Puma's debut collaborative products were also seen on the runway. The collection pieces took a genderless approach and added an avant-garde spin to Puma's iconic silhouettes. The collaborative pieces took inspiration from the '70s and added a color palette and graphic design detail to the garments.
PAM - PAM also marked its debut collaboration with the German sportswear giant through the show. For the collaborative collection, the duo worked to engage consumers in a thought-provoking and exciting experience as they blurred the lines between sports/hobby, urban/outdoor, virtual/actual, object/function, and more.
MMQ - The company's German name Macht's mit Qualitat smoothly translates to Made with Quality in English. It also collaborated with the sportswear label to represent the archival designs and materials of the finest quality.
3) The Puma Futrograde's Black Station
Alongside a physical show, the brand also opened an immersive and interactive place to experience the brand's future. The sports company unveiled its first-ever metaverse website experience, dubbed the Black Station, alongside Futrograde. The collection features exclusive NFTs as part of the Futrograde show during NYFW. The official press release reads:
"Black Station is PUMA’s very own 3D spatial playground. A unique Web3 space that enables our NFT community to experience the brand like never before."
The Black Station is a blank and ever-evolving 3D canvas, which will become a dynamic destination to visit to connect consumers with the label. Adam Petrick, Chief Brand Officer, commented on the Black Station experience:
“Twenty years ago, Black Station was PUMA’s home for our most innovative designs in fashion. Given the boundaries we are pushing from a product design and digital standpoint, we found it fitting to bring Black Station back as a new portal for digital exploration across fashion, sport performance, our heritage classics, and innovation.”
The experience will begin with visitors entering the hyper-realistic digital lobby with three separate portals. The first two portals were opened on September 7, 2022, and unveiled the exclusive Nitro NFRNO sneakers linked to the recent NFT NitroPass mint via brand.
Following the Futrograde show, minters could claim physical sneakers by burning their product-claimed via NFT. This marked the first PUMA-owned NFT for the brand in the web3 space. The project linked physical products with digital design.
The third portal of the Black Station was functional as the entry to the digital NYFW metaverse fashion show, Futrograde. The portal made consumers and visitors journey through a digital adaption of Furtrograde, allowing visitors to interact closely with the collection's pieces.
