5 Responses to “Kehinde Wiley for Puma”

1. 'jide Says:
   February 18th, 2010 at 11:07 am

   Great idea!!!

2. Anyauwa Says:
   February 18th, 2010 at 1:18 pm

   Although this is a good idea, that shoe is not well designed. . . . : /

3. Tosin Says:
   February 22nd, 2010 at 7:59 pm

   lol at Anyauwa…i think its wonderful!!

4. Victor Lewis Says:
   February 28th, 2010 at 11:07 am

   I am not a purist when it comes to inspiration. I don’t think any artist is. Visual artists are magpies and can be influenced by anything without realising it. Okay this is a concious choice on Puma’s part to involve an artist of African origin. It makes perfect sense. Above, Anyauwa expressed her opinion regarding the design of the shoe. I will add my own critique with a little more detail as to why i think that. First of all i will take the puma logo and brand. The logo in itself is as dynamic and recognisable as logos go. The company have made strides in terms of representation in their marketing campaigns. Anyone remember the ads utilising the colours of the Jamaican flag or the use of sportsmen from the Jamaican National Athletics team or the ad with the singing women of a certain age, who, most peoples of African descent can easily recognise and identify with? Their pedigree as a brand that puts its money and ideas where its getting its bread and butter from is not in doubt.

   I have a problem with the collaborator they chose this time. More relevantly, I have a problem with the product. The print idea is great. It is lifted from the proliferation of that type of motif that is popular especially in West Africa called Dutch Wax. My problem with that is that the European companies that sell textiles to Africa have got further free advertisement for their dubious products. Dubious because the African market is subsidising a portion of the European textile industry. None of these production bases that produce such an important commodity in African sartorial life are situated on the African mainland. These companies dont do any advertising because they have got the market sewn up from Ivory coast to Burkina to Sierra Leone. My point is he has neglected to create something new. Something relevant to the zeitgeist.

   As the world cup is being held in South Africa, some of the motifs of south African cultural, creative and artistic expression should have been chosen over the faux batik prints popularly known as Dutch Wax. He/she has not done anything for South African Xhosa beading, N’Debele graphics and the myriad other visual motifs he/she could have “bigged up” for this important occasion. This is the world cup right? It is going to be seen by at least a billion people and everything is scrutinised these days using all those tropes, political, relevance, historical etcetera etcetera…my point is as images go, it is not suffieciently African to be part of such an important world wide promotional opportunity.

   One of the abiding legacies of Apartheid is a sartorial identity crisis. Fashion on the urban/street level is wholesale recreation of HIp Hop attitude and its excesses and the other extreme, the vogue reading, white south Africa, in other words the higest level of Fashion in South Africa still looks to Europe for inspiration so they are hardly the natural vehicle to use in showcaseing other aspects of south African cultural life through fashion.

   It feels like a missed opportunity for the positioning of visual images and symbols from the part of the world where the world cup is being held. I agree with Anyauwa, it is a great idea but the shoe is not particularly well designed.

   Finally, I think because fashion is the only one of the human creative endeavors that squarely sits in the world of commerce and art, one should not miss an opportunity to position African attitudes. Dutch Wax is a tired motif.

5. Claus Cantave Says:
   May 9th, 2010 at 6:34 pm

   I want one…….please, please, i’m a big puma fan and i can’t go to the world cup. it’s sooo cool and perfect looking….I’m 11 and i’m from Haiti, where movements are born. Congrats…
   Claus

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