For his second Balmain x PUMA collaboration, Balmain Creative Director Olivier Rousteing has skilfully melded Parisian luxury heritage and American basketball excitement into an incredible slam dunk.
“Back in 2019, I worked closely with the PUMA team on a boxing-inspired Balmain x PUMA offering,” explains Rousteing. “Obviously, I loved creating that capsule—but for this second time around, I really wanted to set our focus on the thrills of basketball.
Over here, we’re all big fans of le basket and French people are extremely dedicated to their favourite American teams. Plus, honestly, is there any group of athletes more fashionable than basketball players?
So, I’ve long believed that a mix of Balmain’s modern Parisian luxury codes and b-ball emotion would make for the perfect combination—and I am very happy that PUMA has joined with me and my team to help prove that hypothesis.”
Balmain x PUMA’s newest collection centres around a special take on the historic Parisian house’s Balmain Court. For the limited-edition collaboration, the house’s basketball sneakers have been transformed with a golden Balmain tongue label, Balmain x PUMA heel webbing and a one-of-a-kind Balmain basketball shoe box.
These special-edition Balmain Courts make very clear the distinctive luxury fashion-meets-sports blend of this partnership, pairing the finest Italian leathers with the latest ground-breaking performance materials—including high-rebound ProFoam and high-abrasion rubber for multi-directional traction.
The capsule’s clothing designs give a distinctive Parisian savoir-faire twist to a host of familiar American silhouettes, including the court-ready Balmain warm-ups and uniforms, as well as Balmain x PUMA cap and tees.
There’s also a special varsity jacket design riffing on the signature Balmain Teddy jackets often spotted on the house’s runways during Paris Fashion Week.
But it’s clear that the sure-to-be instant classic of this collection has to be the sleek, black-and-gold, Balmain-logo’d basketball.
Professional basketball players Skylar Diggins-Smith and Kyle Kuzma will be featured in the upcoming campaign for the Balmain x PUMA collab, with Kuzma premiering his favourite designs on February 8th before the Wizards vs Hornets match-up.
The limited-edition PUMA x Balmain Court will be available globally on PUMA.com, Balmain.com and at the PUMA NYC flagship store, beginning February 18th.
The limited-edition PUMA x Balmain clothing designs will be available from February 18th on Balmain.com and at the Balmain flagships in Paris, Milan, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Miami.
It will also be carried at Harrods Men (London), Printemps Homme (Paris) and Saks (New York).