KICK OFF TIME: With 80 days until the beginning of the 2022 soccer World Cup, Puma has teamed with Palomo Spain for a gender-fluid capsule collection launching on Saturday.

The capsule, which spans ready-to-wear, footwear and accessories, takes its cues from ’70s soccer stars and their glamorous off-field lives for a retro tackle team sports gear.

“We desired to add glamour, detail, style and above all freedom to a group that also needs to work for sport performances,” said designer Alejandro Gómez Palomo of this capsule, which he imagined as “a shared wardrobe that works for all sexes and identities” by revisiting iconic sporty shapes and flamboyant type of the ’70s through the crafts-intensive lens of his six-year-old brand.

As a muse, the designer took ’70s Dutch soccer star Johan Cruyff, a three-time Ballon d’Or winner who was later voted European Player of the Century, calling him “the proper embodiment of the Palomo Spain aesthetic in sport.”

Puma’s global creative director Heiko Desens said the Spanish label’s “pleased ethos” had struck a chord with the activewear brand, noting that Palomo’s “sense of rebelliousness, defiance of stereotypes and celebration of self-expression [was] also what Puma” stood for.

The designer imagined 15 styles, starting from nylon shorts and terry tank tops to a bell-bottom tracksuit set with embroidered piping and a soccer-style half-zipped polo featuring embroidery and jacquard.

“The crossover between craftsmanship and technology is an interesting one, because it’s not obvious in any respect,” said Desens, who noted that creating the designer’s embroideries and details at scale had required highly technical production processes.

Gómez Palomo said partnering with Puma had allowed him to “approach the gathering in a way more technical way than usual,” working on a scale larger than along with his studio and atelier.

Along with the rtw, he revisited signature Puma footwear styles including the Weekend sneaker in addition to its Nitefox model, offered in loafer and laced boot versions. Bags, a cap and a printed scarf complete the range.  

Prices for the Puma x Palomo Spain collection will range from 40 euros for caps and 185 euros for track jackets, as much as 450 euros for the Nitefox boot. It is going to retail on Puma and Palomo Spain’s e-commerce platforms, in addition to chosen Puma stores and retailers worldwide.