Fashion and sportswear brand Puma have continued to honour a business deal with music star Nipsey Hussle and
provide his children, even after his tragic death.
The musician, who was fatally shot outside his store in South Central Los Angeles in March 2019, had previously signed a endorsement deal with Puma and his own brand The Marathon Clothing. The initial collaboration would launch later that year, but tragically Nipsey never got to see or make it happen.
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The Grammy award nominee for his album Victory Lap – real name Ermias Davidson Asghedom – had been outside his own shop, Marathon Clothing, in South Los Angeles when the fatal shooting happened which also injured two other people.
Despite the star's untimely death, Puma instead decided to honour the deal and give deposits into the trust fund of Nipsey and partner Lauren London’s two children every year without any strings attached to business. Additionally, they made Nipsey's widow Lauren an official brand ambassador.
Nipsey's brother Blacc Sam explained how the deal works in an interview. He told Complex: "After everything, they came back to the table and made sure the kids was set up straight.
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"It had nothing to do with sales of clothes or the success of the capsules, just off the top every year they hit the kids in the trust fund. They did right for Hussle."
He added: "They allowed us to also do the collabs and do it the way we wanna do it. It’s not about selling a lot of units or printing up a lot of t-shirts and going wild. It’s just let’s do it tasteful, let’s come in with the Hussle way."
In 2019, an announcement on Nipsey Hussle's official instagram revealed the brand would still be going ahead with Puma for its first collaboration.
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It read: "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.
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"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."
Whilst Nipsey never got to see the two brands come together, the collaborations between The Marathon Clothing label and Puma have been huge successes.
Their most recent collection, the "Status Symbol" Collection, is currently on sale now.
Niamh Spence