In early March, Nipsey Hussle was excited to share with his fans that he'd inked a collaboration and endorsement deal with PUMA. The 33-year old rapper shared a photo of himself signing the contract, assuring his followers that they could expect to see what this meeting of the minds had come up with in the Fall. Sadly, just weeks later, Nipsey was callously murdered in front of his Marathon Clothing store, leaving his loved ones and admirers devastated, and many of his projects unfinished.
As prosecutors and investigators gather information to build a case against Nipsey's accused killer Eric Holder, the slain rapper's team continues the community building and artistic work that Nipsey began before his untimely death. In May, PUMA Brand and Marketing Global Director Adam Petrick shared that the Nipsey's collection would still be released exactly as the rapper desired.
“We’ll work with his family and we’ll support his kids," Petrick stated. "We’re going to continue to release some product that we’ve created with him. We’ve also got some charity activations that we’ll do to support what he was doing in Crenshaw, and trying to continue the work that he was doing through his foundation.”
Since his passing, Nipsey's family has kept away from sharing much information from the rapper's social media pages, understandably. His Instagram has remained silent since early April when a notice of his memorial was posted, but hours ago, an announcement about his much-anticipated PUMA release was published.
In its entirety, the message reads:
"Our team is proud to announce that our first collaborative capsule with Puma drops on September 5th 2019. Nipsey spearheaded this project from concept to final product over the course of last year, flying to meetings, reviewing samples, bringing in material references he liked, and most importantly ensuring that it reflected his style authentically with no compromise. Each detail from logo placement, fit, colorways, and materials was thoughtfully done. His signature style and DNA can be found in each garment that’s part of this collection from the khaki suit to the tracksuit. This project is very special to our team and we’re handling it with the utmost care to ensure it’s delivered exactly as Nipsey envisioned it. It’s a privilege for us to honor his commitment and carry out this project for people to receive a personally curated collection by Nip Hussle Tha Great."