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PUMA’s PFW Pop-Up Proved They’re Not Playing Games

It’s fair to say PUMA hasn’t always been top of the sportswear food chain. But by embracing the weird and wonderful, the brand is elevating to levels they’ve never touched before.

No brand had a 2024 quite like PUMA. We all know about the label’s big link-ups with ASAP Rocky, Rhianna, Skepta and a flurry of elite ballers. You’re probably familiar with the stellar collabs they dropped last year, too. But from a deeper cultural standpoint, PUMA’s Mostro pop-up at PFW didn’t just put their futuristic model into motion: it proved that the brand’s forward momentum isn’t slowing down any time soon.

PUMA brought along some big hitters from online spaces to showcase what they do best to their community IRL.

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The Hagel workshop brought the Mostro to life, getting attendees up close and personal with the spiky silhouette. Hagel got attendees to transform the model using heat presses, stickers, and custom art.

Inside Tag and Hart Copy curated an excellent Archive exhibition, showcasing some of the maddest PUMA silhouettes of all time. The duo’s incredible knowledge of PUMA’s heritage and innovation provided a full-circle look at the brand. It explained why PUMA has levelled up by looking within and unveiling a freaky and fun side to the brand we’ve seen in previous eras.

Elsewhere, early adopters and subcultural oddities were celebrated in an immersive environment with Cold Archive’s exhibition. Titled “Imperfection is the New Perfection,” the experience brought together a tattoo parlour, graffiti booth, hair salon, vintage Japanese magazines and a photography exhibition, highlighting how stereotypical outsiders shift culture far more than conformists and change it into something positive.

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The PUMA PFW pop-up showed how tapped-in the brand’s marketing team has become in recent years, but also illustrated the importance of educating their consumer and audience in an innovative, impactful way. PUMA have taken it upon themselves to tread a different path to their competition: and it’s a move that’s been duly rewarded. You only had to walk around Paris to see the shift on the streets. Put simply, cool people are now wearing PUMA — and their Mostro Pop-Up was the in-real-life manifestation of this motion.

Rather than trying to hop on played-out trends, PUMA have levelled up by looking within, unveiling a freaky and fun side to the brand we’re enjoying seeing more and more of. After a strong 2024, it’s clear PUMA aren’t playing games this year – having started 2025 as they mean to go on.