PUMA and adidas Look To Capitalize on the Hype Around Football Culture
In its next strategic phase.
Football — or as some may call it, soccer — has become an important sport for athletic apparel and footwear brands to grasp onto in order to expand into becoming staple lifestyle brands in the market.
Sportswear brands like adidas and PUMA are seeing the demand for football-inspired pieces in due part to the success of this summer’s Women’s World Cup. Hoping to reach a new customer base, brands are looking at the uptick in celebrity presences at football matches including Kim Kardashian and her son Saint West attending Neymar Jr. matches and even celebrities like Ryan Reynolds, Stormzy, Matthew McConaughey and LeBron James owning stakes in football teams. When it comes to fashion, jerseys have become a staple in merchandising opportunities for both fans who want to show their support and those who wear them for style.
Just in September, adidas launched an “exclusively off-pitch” apparel collection while Rihanna recently dropped Fenty x PUMA Avanti shoes in new colorways for the football-inspired silhouette. Nike recently faced backlash from football fans when it did not offer any replica kits for England’s Mary Earps and other goalkeepers in the Women’s World Cup proving that there is unmet demand for soccer-related apparel partnerships. Soccer jerseys have become a staple, even showing up at Paris Fashion Week when model Mia Regan paired an Arsenal shirt with a long denim skirt.
adidas has long had a relationship with football, with apparel ranges for teams like Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Manchester United and Real Madrid that launched in September. adidas said, “We want to cater to the needs of both the consumer who plays football actively and the consumer who is attracted by football culture.” High fashion has also taken note as Italian luxury label Prada has recently collaborated with adidas on soccer cleats in three colorways. As the sport continues to grow and become a mainstream staple, brands must meet the demand in order to expand.
In other fashion news, Stüssy just dropped its Holiday 2023 collection.
