A$AP Rocky Joins Puma

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Puma brings A$AP Rocky on board for a new role, Academy Sports names a new president and Flight Club inks a new partnership.

Here's what you need to know.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky Unite at Puma: Rapper to Spearhead F1 Creative Direction

It’s officially a family affair at Puma for Rihanna and A$AP Rocky. Today, the company announced its long-term creative partnership with the rapper where he takes on the role as creative director for the brand’s F1 partnership.

A reminder: Rihanna is back at Puma. The surprise deal was first revealed in the middle of Paris Fashion Week in March, and last month, she launched the Fenty x Puma Avanti sneaker — marking the debut collection since her first partnership with Puma ended in 2018.

What does this mean? For partner A$AP Rocky, he will focus on the intersection of motorsport and streetwear, developing bespoke capsules that will influence Puma’s seasonal design directions as well as bringing a fresh perspective to the growing F1 audience. Puma also plans to adopt an incubator-style approach, termed “in the lab,” for creative exploration.

In May, Puma unveiled an exclusive deal with Formula 1 for the 2024 season and beyond.

Academy Sports Names Sam Johnson President, Michael Mullican to Leave Company

Academy Sports and Outdoors announced on Monday that it has promoted Sam Johnson to president.

Johnson succeeds Michael Mullican, who recently informed the Katy, Texas-based company that he is stepping down to pursue other personal and professional opportunities. Mullican will serve the company in an advisory capacity through a brief transition period beginning today, the company said.

Prior to his promotion, Johnson has served as EVP of retail operations and has been a key member of the executive leadership team since joining Academy in April 2017.

Zoom out: This marks the latest top executive shift to occur at the retailer this year. In July, Academy promoted Carl Ford to the role of EVP and CFO. In June, Matt McCabe was promoted to the role of EVP and chief merchandising officer. He replaced Academy’s former chief merchant Steve Lawrence, who stepped into the CEO role at the start of June as part of a planned succession.

Why Flight Club Is Partnering With NBA Great Baron Davis’ Crossroads School

Flight Club has entered into a multiyear partnership with the Crossroads School men’s varsity basketball team — the California high school that NBA legend Baron Davis attended —?becoming its official jersey and footwear partner.

With this partnership, which is the first of the kind for Flight Club, the sneaker consignment store will provide and produce exclusive jerseys and products for both the team and the coaching staff.

Flight Club confirmed the multiyear partnership will run throughout the upcoming 2023-24 season, with additional collaborative announcements to come. The company will host an annual Flight Club Invitational at the Crossroads Sports Complex in Santa Monica on Oct. 28-29. The weekend-long tournament will feature invited nationally-ranked teams with a reputation for creating eventual pros.

Davis, who told FN attending Crossroads was an “eye-opening experience” that uniquely prepared him for functioning in the real world, said the Flight Club partnership will bring more eyes to the program, which it deserves.

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