PUMA Creative Director June Ambrose led the presentation itself. office caught a moment with Ambrose before the show to discuss her inspirations for the collection, coming back to New York Fashion Week, and bringing FUTROGRADE to life.
How did you come up with "Futrograde"?
We were all sitting at a table putting a description of what we were trying actually to cover and accomplish. It was past, present, and future for the brand. I always play around and say, ‘Oh, you're in the Juniverse.’ We’re in Mercury retrograde, so I think about that, and I think about how retro is so much a part of what we see now. It’s the conversation that's driving everything as we creatives are pulling their point of reference, and I was a big part of retro moments that are being referenced now. This was definitely a moment for me to celebrate my contribution to the culture and also introduce Puma in a space where they could have a more amplified voice in streetwear.
Streetstyle is a universal expression now, and I wanted to celebrate how individuals are in urban environments. We have a section called ‘Beyond the Bodega,’ and it's about how we, as a culture, have gone beyond our environments and we have broken through many stereotypes quite successfully. We're pioneers. I wanted to give context to the fact that where this came from and celebrate that voice [streetwear] is the number one voice in fashion right now. Street sports style is eclipsing most conversations right now around high fashion brands; who would never think about making a sweatpant or anything that was leisure– yet they had to get on board. I've been playing with taking leisure sports out of context since the late 90s. I was doing luxury jogging suits and all that stuff, so this is an aha moment.
This is a fresh idea, and when I was starting, I referenced things; from the people who came before me. We all reference each other. It's about reimagining things and reinterpreting. It’s really an art form. It's all about expression and individualized interpretation. For me, it’s about telling that story. I'm a huge storyteller. So I've developed characters; I literally gave each model their character, their personality. When you look at each look, you can tell what kind of person they are and what they’re thinking. They don't take themselves too seriously. They're bold. They're playful. They're sporty. They're sophisticated. They're retro. They’re all these adjectives that come to play.