PUMA launches 2012 African Football Kits through a unique artist collaboration and exhibition at Design Museum, London

London (ots) -

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Global sportlifestyle brand PUMA® has revealed an inspiring and
contemporary collaboration, launching technical football kits for
PUMA's 10 partnered African National football teams. Each kit is
designed by a renowned artist from the Creative African Network (CAN)
- a PUMA platform connecting and promoting artists from and in
Africa. This unique collaboration is complemented by a month-long
exhibition at the Design Museum, London that showcases the artists'
design inspirations.

Today's unveiling at the Design Museum in London, brought together
high profile football players and CAN artists from each of the 10
PUMA partnered teams, including Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon, John Mensah
of Ghana and Yaya Touré of Ivory Coast. With the 2012 Orange Africa
Cup of Nations® fast approaching, the event was the perfect platform
for PUMA to demonstrate how the brand has fused its work within sport
and art, seamlessly bringing together two worlds that don't often
collide.

Central to the project is PUMA.Creative (a programme of
PUMAVision), that brings together individual artists and
organizations, and provides them with a platform for creative
exchange and international exposure. Through PUMA.Creative's CAN
programme, ten artists were commissioned to design a football kit
inspired from the country's heritage, culture and traditions-to
create unique and inspiring designs for their home nation.

"PUMA has been at the forefront of integrating the two disparate
worlds of sport and art, and today through a celebration of football,
art, colour and culture, we have shown to the world how these two
spheres can be uniquely combined," comments Franz Koch, CEO of PUMA
SE. "PUMA has a long standing history with Africa, and this event
demonstrates how as a brand we continue to be fully committed to our
relationship with the continent."

PUMA does indeed have a celebrated history with African football,
each year bringing something new and different to the football
category. Art has also featured prominently in PUMA projects: to
celebrate the FIFA World Cup 2010, the brand commissioned
contemporary artist Kehinde Wiley for a series of portraits with
African football players and to design African-inspired lifestyle
products.

The PUMA partnered African national teams represented include
Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Namibia, Senegal, Togo, Gabon,
Burkina Faso and PUMA's newest partner South Africa, which signed
with the sportlifestyle brand in June 2011. The technical kits have
been designed to maximise the player's on-pitch performance. The
jersey fits the body closely to avoid grabbing from the opponent, and
the fabric features PUMA's U.S.P Moisture Management technology,
enhancing body performance by dragging moisture away from the body,
enhancing air flow and keeping the body at the ultimate performance
temperature.

Terence Parris, Head of Teamsports Marketing at PUMA SE comments,
"African football continues to play a huge part in our global sports
marketing strategy. Over the past decade, we have progressively
developed our relationship with Africa, investing in grassroots
projects, player relationships and African federation partnerships.
The emotion and passion of African football perfectly complements our
brand ethos and we are uniquely privileged to be in a position to
work with a continent with such rich culture and heritage."

PUMA has worked with the Design Museum in London to launch a
month- long exhibition 'Interpretations of Africa: Football, Art and
Design' to celebrate PUMA's inspired new football kit designs for the
10 PUMA partnered African National football teams.

The exhibition will feature original artwork and sketches
alongside development work and the resulting final football kits
created by the artists involved, including Barthélémy Toguo of
Cameroon, Zineb Zedira of Algeria and Godfried Donker of Ghana who
have all become renowned in the art world for their emotive and
captivating work. The other artists representing their nations are:
Saïdou Dicko of Burkina Faso, Ernest Düku of Ivory Coast, Owanto of
Gabon, Hentie van der Merwe of Namibia, Samba Fall of Senegal, Hasan
and Husain Essop of South Africa and El Loko of Togo.

Alex Newson, Exhibition Curator, Design Museum, London adds, "As a
design challenge, creating a new national football kit is a
complicated and demanding brief. The results of the collaboration
between PUMA and the group of celebrated artists are remarkable and
testament to the talent, pride and passion evident in both African
art and football and this exhibition charts this unique journey."

The exhibition is open for public viewing from November 8 - 27,
2011, 10.00am - 17.45pm.

For further information please visit:

www.pumafootball.com, http://vision.puma.com, www.designmuseum.org

Media Contacts:
Tim Stedman, International PR, PUMA
+49 151 1474 3148
tim.stedman@puma.com

Mary Mitchell, Edelman PR
+44 203 047 2108
mary.mitchell@edelman.com

Danielle Marcus, PUMAVision
+1 978 394 9400
danielle.marcus@puma.com

Ashley Woodfield, Design Museum
+44 207 940 8787
ashley@designmuseum.org