Rihanna, who graces the cover of Footwear News’ September issue, shared an early look at the soccer-inspired collectionRihanna for the return of Fenty X Puma

If you’ve been asking Rihanna’s Fenty X Puma collaboration “Where Have You Been,” well, it’s officially back.

On Thursday, the music superstar and fashion icon, 35, gave more details on the return of the collab, showing off some first-look campaign imagery and a glimpse of her take on the Puma Avanti sneaker exclusively with Footwear News.

“Football is a universal language that brings people together from all over the world, all walks of life, and I wanted to pay homage to that,” Rihanna told FN of the soccer-inspired collection for the publication’s September issue cover.

Rihanna returns from her hiatus as the creative director of Fenty X Puma after first teaming up with Puma in 2015 and later stepping back to shift her focus elsewhere in 2017.

Puma announced the partnership’s return in a cryptic Instagram post back in March.Rihanna graces the cover of Footwear News.

The uni𝑠e𝑥 sneaker will be offered in all sizes, and also available for children, when it releases on Sept. 15. Vogue notes that a second Avanti drop will take place in the fall.

“It’s a bit of a family reunion,” Rihanna told Vogue. “Coming back to Puma as a mom, in a new space, allowed for new perspectives and ideas.”

The shoe retails for at $160 and serves as a hybrid of the brand’s King football boot and Easy Rider running shoe. Rihanna called her experience looking through Puma’s archives “always incredible.”

“There is so much history and legacy here, and I wanted to honor that by paying tribute to the Avanti,” she said. “[The King is] the shoe [Brazilian football player] Pelé played in and made very famous, and I know people are looking forward to their return.”

As for the shoe’s design, it features a leather upper in either black, white or silver, a gum sole and other neat details. “This time around, we expanded our creations to kids, ’cause I selfishly want my boys in everything their dad and I wear or design,” Rihanna added of available children’s sizes.

“We had to extend the line to kids so the whole family can be a part of this,” she told FN.

“It’s been such an exciting start to our partnership,” Puma’s Chief Product Officer Maria Valdes said in a release.

“We spent time together opening up the Puma archive and identifying the right product that spoke to Rihanna. The Avanti is a Puma classic with a unique and iconic point of view on terrace. I’m very happy to see this project come to life and even more excited for what the coming years have in store for us together.”

Bob Philion, president and CEO of Puma North America, told FN that Rihanna “moves culture, sets trends and she certainly can move our business.”

“Fenty is stronger now than it was when she was with us before,” he said.

Source: https://people.com