[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he news that Rihanna is becoming creative director of Puma, one of the world’s largest sportswear companies, may have passed with little more than a perfunctory article here and there, but perhaps we should have paid more attention. It is certainly not unusual for major sports brands to collaborate with prominent fashion figures, recent examples being Nike x Riccardo Tisci and Jeremy Scott’s collaboration with Adidas. Why then should there be any problem with Puma teaming up with Rihanna?  As an international style icon, she has already worked with MAC, Giorgio Armani, Balmain and Gucci, so has proved her sway in the world of fashion. The problem, however, lies in the statement released by Puma to announce her appointment: “Signing Rihanna is a fantastic step for Puma. Her global profile, her charisma and individuality, her ambition — all these things make her a perfect ambassador for our brand. With a strong portfolio in football, running and motorsport, finding an inspiring partner for women’s training was very important. Rihanna was a natural choice for us.”

The ‘‘strong portfolio’’ Puma is talking about includes partnerships with Usain Bolt, Mario Balotelli and Cesc Fàbregas. Puma’s website lists six brand ambassadors, all of them male international athletes. However, in looking for a female creative director, the “natural choice” was not any of the hundreds upon hundreds of successful sportswomen available to them, but a singer. While she has done fashion work before and sports brands do engage in fashion collaborations, there is a difference here. Rihanna is not designing a sideline collection of casual sportswear to widen the brand’s exposure, but will be involved in all of Puma’s womenswear, including actual performance wear. She is now Puma’s female role model for their brand, a woman who told Vogue “I hate going to the gym” and who has no association with any sport whatsoever.There is always a balance to be struck in the design of sportswear, between aesthetic and functionality, and here Puma seems to be forgoing the aspect of performance.

Achieving this balance has always been an issue for sportswear, especially that designed for women. The early 1920s was the first time women were permitted to participate in many sports, which created a necessity for new kinds of clothing for women which allowed freer movement. Indeed, the first recognised sportswear for women was designed by Coco Chanel herself. She designed the iconic pleated tennis skirt, worn below the knee with a knitted jumper to facilitate movement and agility, as an alternative to tightly fitted clothing with long, heavy skirts. In the mid 1920s, a short skirt was eventually permitted for tennis, and an iconic garment was born. Created due to issues of performance, her design also was aesthetically impressive and thus has been one of the most enduring pieces of sportswear to date. Since then, fashion and sportswear have always flirted with and played off each other. So much of our modern clothing’s origins lie in sportswear: from obvious manifestations like baseball caps and casual trainers, to the more subtle traces, such as stretch fabrics and detailing such as stripes. The late 70s and early 80s blurred the line between between sportswear and leisurewear, when a craze for working out led fashion designers to look again at fabrics intended for practical sporting purposes, such as acrylic fleece and Lycra, and begin to use them in their own designs. Sportswear was no longer just for exercising in, and fashion has never looked back. The 90s saw new manifestations of sportswear in fashion, such as crop tops and slouchy tracksuit bottoms, and it is still evolving: Chanel’s AW14 show included trainers and leggings in practically every look. The supermarket backdrop of the show underlined how sportswear is now part of the everyday, Chanel here reclaiming it for high fashion. Similarly, Alexander Wang’s recent collection for H&M was heavily influenced by sportswear, and even included accessories like boxing gloves, a whistle, a yoga mat and goggles. In fact, much of it could function as actual gym wear: sports bras, shorts, leggings. Athleticism is a look, and an increasingly popular one. The line between sportswear and normal clothing grows ever more indistinct, with the crucial difference that although almost all sportswear can be worn casually, not all sports-influenced clothing will be suitable for actual sport. While no one who buys Chanel or Dior trainers intends to run a marathon in them, sports brands do still have to consider functionality in their products. It is true most do now also produce leisurewear: I doubt anyone attempted to run a marathon in Jeremy Scott’s Adidas trainers either — the teddy bears attached to the tongue probably wouldn’t have helped achieve a personal best.

But by making Rihanna creative director, Puma has made a statement about which side of the aesthetic/performance balance they are prioritising. It is certainly not true that performance sportswear cannot be also aesthetically desirable; it is precisely because they look good that designers have appropriated them for high fashion in the first place. However, while Puma may be aiming for sportswear that wins on both fashion and performance terms, they have gone about it the wrong way. Whereas international athletes are brought in for their men’s clothing to meet the highest standards for performance, this is not the case for their women’s line.  By bringing in a singer rather than an athlete, the aesthetic, instead of being but one aspect of design, seems to be the only issue in consideration. This is indicative of the general lack of status given to women’s sport, which receives only 0.5% of all sporting sponsorship and 5% of all sports media coverage, according to the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation. This gross imbalance has of course not started with Puma, but it is something which will not in any way improve when major sporting brands feel a singer is a more appropriate partner for them than a female athlete. While this is frustrating and a little condescending for many female athletes, whether professional or amateur, there are potential positives to be taken from the move. Rihanna’s fashion experience could produce some innovative designs for Puma; sportswear itself hasn’t changed radically for a number of years. With other collaborations such as Richard Nicoll and Sweaty Betty, and an upcoming one between Nike and Japanese brand Sacai, there definitely seems to be a movement within sportswear towards high fashion. What cannot be forgotten however, is the need to keep in mind the performance aspect required for sportswear, to acknowledge the demands sportspeople of all abilities, men and women, put their bodies through. Incorporating fashion into sportswear doesn’t have to invalidate its function, as long as it is gone about in the correct way.