In 2015, Puma was struggling for cultural relevance. The brand had a strong athletic heritage and a decent catalogue, but it occupied an awkward middle ground between Nike's dominance and Adidas's street credibility. Then Rihanna signed on as creative director, not spokesperson, not face of a campaign, but creative director, and everything changed.
The first visible result was the Creeper: a platform sneaker that merged punk subculture with streetwear sensibility, built on a dramatically elevated crepe sole that had no precedent in the Puma archive. The Creeper was not an obvious idea. A chunky, almost theatrical silhouette from a brand best known for low-profile runners and football boots. It sold out in 12 minutes. Footwear News named it Shoe of the Year for 2016. Puma reported its strongest revenue growth in years.
What followed between 2015 and 2018 was one of the most sustained periods of creative ambition in musician-brand history. Rihanna staged runway presentations at Paris Fashion Week that rivalled luxury houses in production value: pink sand, parachute canopies, Marie Antoinette references. She co-designed collections that blurred athletic and fashion categories before that blurring became commonplace. The Fenty × Puma slides became a summer essential worn by everyone from professional athletes to street style photographers. The Fur Slide, the Bow Sneaker, the Trainer: each release sold out, each carried Rihanna's distinct creative signature rather than a licensed logo.
The collaboration went on hiatus after 2018 as Rihanna's focus shifted to Fenty Beauty, Savage × Fenty, and eventually her own LVMH-backed fashion house. Its revival in 2024 with the Avanti sneaker, and Rihanna returning as creative director, signalled that the partnership still has creative life.
For buyers on resale, the original era is where the value sits. The Creeper remains the hero piece: original colourways in good condition trade at $150 to $200 depending on size and colourway. The Fur Slide has settled at $80 to $110. The Bow Sneaker, slightly harder to find, runs $130 to $160. The 2024 Avanti, as a revival piece, is more accessible at $100 to $120 and still widely available.
Sizing across the Fenty × Puma era runs slightly small: half size up is the standard advice for the Creeper. The slides run large. All the original-era pieces were released in women's sizing; men's equivalents used the standard Puma 1.5-size conversion (women's US 8 equals men's US 6.5). The 2024 Avanti introduced unisex sizing across a wider range.
With Rihanna back and more releases anticipated, the Fenty × Puma story is still being written. But the original era, 2015 to 2018, is the one that changed what a musician-brand collaboration could be. Those pieces are worth finding.