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After killing the Super Bowl halftime show in the MM6 Maison Margiela x Salomon Cross Low and causing eBay searches to surge over 800%, Rihanna is back to baby bump bliss as she stepped out for dinner at her favorite restaurant, Giorgio Baldi, in Santa Monica, CA.
Her boundary-breaking maternity style resumed its reign as Rihanna stunted in a vintage Dior fur coat, a Godzilla-esque graphic tee, and airbrushed jeans from the Stüssy x Dries Van Noten collab.
The baby-sized tee allowed her to show off her baby bump, yet we couldn’t take our eyes off her sneakers — the PUMA King Avanti Premium.
The illusive silhouette is hard to pin down with pairs floating around on eBay and other secondary markets. The PUMA King Avanti Premium has boot-like finishes as the silhouette was originally designed for the pitch.
Back in March, PUMA announced that Rihanna re-signed with the brand to deliver a new FENTY x PUMA line. Rihanna and sneaker fans alike can attest to the excitement it brings to see the style icon in PUMAs again, especially when thinking about her FENTY PUMA Creepers, which we got nostalgic about recently when reminiscing on Rihanna’s Top 30 sneaker moments.
Together, PUMA and Rihanna created a short-lived empire from 2014 to 2017, as the Barbados-born superstar served as the Fastcat’s creative director. Her presence at PUMA was immediately felt and allowed the brand to hit $1.4 billion in revenue in the North American market during 2017, per Barron’s.
PUMA has been applying pressure in many different areas of its global network as the Fastcat has been developing its PUMA Hoops roster with Melo and Stewie, working with international collaborators like KOCHE, calling upon cultural icons like Dapper Dan, partnering with popstar Dua Lipa, getting grimey with UK rapper Skepta, and so much more.
Needless to say, there’s a lot coming down the PUMA pipeline and Rihanna’s return to the brand could be a perfect storm that would push PUMA to the top. This dynamic power play could potentially generate lasting results, especially as adidas trails behind after dropping Ye and Ivy Park shortcomings.
Since Rihanna left PUMA, there have been many women leading the sneaker scene, think Aleali May, Yoon, Chitose Abe, Beyoncé, and most recently, Teyana Taylor. However, Rihanna’s influence on the sneaker game seems to have its own unique allure that many can’t get enough of.
Take a first look at the FENTY x PUMA King Avanti below and follow @NiceKicks on Instagram for more sneaker news and release dates.
