This year mark’s hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, so its fitting that Trophy Hunting‘s first collaboration with Puma — a brand that has been embraced by the culture since day one — has strong ties to the genre.
For instance, one of Trophy Hunting’s founders, Kari Cruz, is a native of the Bronx, N.Y., the birthplace of hip-hop. Also, the connection to Puma was made by Emory Jones, the head of lifestyle at Roc Nation and lifelong friend of Jay-Z, and June Ambrose, the style visionary behind some of rap’s most iconic videos who was named its creative director for women’s basketball in 2020.
“With them each being such huge supporters of us as individual creatives and the brand, it was a natural fit,” Dustin Canalin, co-founder of Trophy Hunting and co-creator of the Puma collection, told FN.
Cruz added, “A combination of personal connection and joint admiration for each other’s work led to our bigger involvement with Puma.”
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For its collection with Puma, a 12-piece range of footwear and apparel, Trophy Hunting used Cruz’s personal experiences with uniforms as inspiration. This includes the school uniforms she wore growing up in the Bronx, the jewelry synonymous with the borough that were part of the uniform of its locals and the athletic team uniforms that have been made famous by Puma athletes.
“Puma has 75 years of undeniable heritage and authenticity within our culture, and we saw this as an opportunity to expand on their legacy with our own imprint,” Cruz said. “When approaching this line, they were receptive to our ideas and expressed appreciation of our creativity and designs. They placed the trust in us to execute those concepts accordingly.”
Canalin added, “We wanted to create our own modern versions of their products, and not just badge and borrow or change colors on pre-existing silhouettes. We were provided with the creative freedom to develop our own silhouettes on footwear and apparel.”
Some of the most notable elements in the range includes trims and hardware that serve as nods to both the gleam of a trophy and the gold jewelry that were a staple for women in Cruz’s childhood neighborhood.
“The jewelry, specifically the nameplate, is a rite of passage for the girls who grew up in my neighborhood of the Bronx, N.Y. It’s a token that you carry with you through life and a tradition of sorts that you pass down generationally,” Cruz said. “It was really important for me to have that personal tie in, to not just serve as a reflection of my life but as a dedication to all of the women who have impacted my life too.”
She continued, “Growing up in the birthplace of hip-hop as the fashion and styles were emerging, it also felt like an appropriate time to give a subtle homage to hip-hop 50.”
Included in the collection are three Puma basketball footwear styles, all reimagined with high-quality leather and suede and transformed through the prep lens of Trophy Hunting. Also, all of the looks include the Trophy Hunting seal on the tongue, and nameplates appear as shoelace charms on select shoes.
“These styles aligned with our lifestyle perfectly. Each shoe, while deceptively simple on the outside, was deconstructed to form completely new shapes and silhouettes out of pre-existing base models,” Cruz said.
Canalin added, “We were looking to create completely new styles that represented our brand ethos. Each shoe was approached with a collegiate and prep minded aesthetic. We factored in the history and legacy that these shoes have provided and asked ourselves how we could create fully functional, wearable and elegant pieces.”
One of the silhouettes is the court-ready Clyde All-Pro. For this performance look, Trophy Hunting added a touch of street style by including a removable gold anklet.
Another shoe in the range is the Slipstream, a current lifestyle look that was worn on the court in the 1980s. Here, Trophy Hunting paired perforated leather, full grain leather and suede, and redesigned upper by pairing the look of the era’s basketball sneakers with detailing found on Oxfords and Brogues.
The third shoe is the Suede Vulcanized, executed in Trophy Hunting’s forest green hue. The iconic silhouette was reimagined with vulcanized tooling and uppers inspired by classic preppy deck
shoes.
As for the apparel, the collection includes a varsity jacket, which Trophy Hunting touted as the hero piece of the collection. The collaborative look is executed in satin and is lined in a faux-fur duck camouflage print. The print, Trophy Hunting explained, is playful and versatile, and enhances the traditional prep silhouette.
The range also includes a full-zip reversible track jacket, which features gold nameplate detailing on the back and bamboo-shaped gold hoops on the zipper, a heavyweight mesh performance skirt in Trophy Hunting’s signature Blackwatch plaid that serves a mashup of a private school uniform and a traditional basketball short, biker shorts, leggings and a full-zip reversible jacket.
The Trophy Hunting x Puma collection arrives Nov. 9 and will be available via Puma.com and Alwaystrophyhunting.com. Prices will range from $96-$196.
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