Selena Gomez's New Line With Puma Has an Important Message About Empowering Girls
Selena Gomez's new collection with Puma is not only a fashion-meets-function double whammy but also it's packed with an important message for everyone who wears it.
For the DefyxSG sneaker, which launches on September 18, the "SG" moniker doesn't just symbolize the initials of its famous creator — it also stands for "Strong Girls," says Selena. “The whole point is to take the focus away from me; it’s about what I believe in and what I choose to do with the platform I’m given,” she told Footwear News about her partnership with the brand. “It’s much bigger than me and it’s much bigger than Puma — it’s about how you feel.”
“I’m building what I already created and I’m making it better — more sophisticated,” she added. “It’s strong — I never forgot to say the word ‘strong.’ The whole point of my line is for any woman who dresses up in athleticwear to feel strong and beautiful.”
"Strength" is a word people use pretty often when talking about Selena Gomez. Last year, the singer underwent a kidney transplant due to complications from lupus, and has spoken openly about her experience with anxiety and depression. She's also put up with her fair share of trolls, including, oddly, designer Stefano Gabbana, who took to the platform earlier this summer to write “è proprio brutta” on a photo of the star, which according to Footwear News roughly translates from Italian to “She’s so ugly.”
“It’s OK that I’m not accepted this way. It’s OK that I’m nice and not intense. I don’t really care,” Selena said of how she deals with this sort of negative feedback. “I have to express my message to myself more than my fans. I would say that ‘I get it, I’m like you.’”
And really, that's what her latest collection with Puma is all about. “I remind myself daily about the importance of defying the outside noise,” she said. “To defy is to be brave.”