Puma, Balmain and Cara Delevingne Team Up on Collection

The newest fashion-meets-streetwear collaboration that needs to be on your radar comes courtesy of Puma, Balmain and Cara Delevingne.

The 35-piece collection (designed by Delevingne and Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing) includes footwear, clothing and accessories, with many of the pieces inspired by Cara’s own personality and style. The line-up includes tracksuits, mini dresses, sneakers, T-shirts and more – many of which come in Balmain’s signature black and gold colour palette.

The collection is inspired by boxing, as well as diversity and inclusivity. Speaking with WWD about the launch, Rousteing said, “It’s really born out of friendship. She asked me to work with her on this collection with Puma. We had a very clear point of view because we both love boxing. We also wanted to use this collaboration as a platform to promote diversity and inclusivity.”

Interestingly, WWD notes that the point-of-sales for each of the pieces will differ as the collection has been divided into two sub-collections. It writes that “some [are] produced and sold by Puma, others by Balmain, and some that will be carried by both brands in addition to select independent retailers.”

The Balmain x Puma mash-up marks several firsts: it is Delevingne’s first time designing a collection for Puma, and it the first time Balmain has done a collection with a sportswear company. The luxury French brand previously dabbled in the high street with its 2015 collaboration with H&M. Delevingne is the uniting force between the two brands, having been the face of Puma since 2016 and having worked with Rousteing for many years (including fronting a campaign and designing a handbag collection for Balmain this year alone).

For Rousteing, he says it’s important to him that his fans, regardless of age or income, are able to access the brand in one way or another. “The Balmain universe speaks to a whole generation of young people who don’t necessarily always have access to these types of products, so it’s always important to me to be able to offer products at different price points so that they are able to wear a Balmain piece from one of our collaborations.”

Delevingne appears in the lookbook for the collection, and she’s joined by a diverse cast of models whom Rousteing describes as having “faced discrimination because of their choices, whatevery those may be, and it was important for us to have a really natural cast.”

The collection launches on November 21.

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