PUMA Signs Illumination's Minions As New Creative Collaborators

As the Minions have existed since the dawn of time, one can expect they have extensive knowledge in the arts and design. In fact, they celebrated and influenced such eras as the Renaissance and the turn-of-the-century's popular-culture revolution. Since their breakout role in Despicable Me in 2010, the Minions have become pop-cultural icons who continue to inspire artists, designers and global tastemakers.  

For this collaborative footwear and apparel collection with PUMA that debuts in Autumn-Winter, Minions Stuart, Carl and Kevin rendered their playful yet fashionably luxe designs on PUMA's sports-inspired styles. They created a new pattern and added splashes of color, plenty of goggles, and more.  PUMA's classic silhouettes, like the PUMA Suede, get a fresh makeover in premium tonal black upper—with custom Minions-painted graphic insoles that are finished by a debossed collaboration logo (featuring the PUMA No. 1 logo and the Minions' logo).

Heiko Desens, PUMA Creative Director for Sportstyle, comments on the partnership: "We're very excited to have partnered with the Minions for a collaborative collection. Their mischievous and playful nature fits the PUMA DNA to a T. Apart from their zest for life and endearing character, they inspire us in many ways; they're extremely hardworking and passionately creative. We welcome the Minions to the PUMA Family."

"For the past seven years, Minions have engaged people of all ages and cultures with their unexpected, often subversive behavior," said Gail Harrison, President of Marketing and Branding, Illumination Entertainment. "For the first time, Illumination has identified three Minions with passion for design to interrupt PUMA's highly successful creative process. This all-new collection combines our favorite classic PUMA styles with an unorthodox measure of bananas, mishaps and more. In true Minion form, they fail upwards again."

"PUMA has a long-established reputation as a leading creative force in footwear design," said Manuel Torres Port, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Consumer Products, Universal Brand Development.  "A collaboration with the Minions is a natural fit for PUMA, as the Minions are global pop icons who are just as fashionable as they are timeless."

The PUMA x Minions footwear, apparel and accessories—adults range—drops globally on PUMA.com, PUMA stores and select lifestyle retailers like Colette and Opening Ceremony starting June 1^st. The Kids' collection will be available on PUMA.com, PUMA stores and kids' retailers.  Despicable Me 3 arrives in theaters on June 30.

Watch this space for more information on the products featured in the collection or follow @PUMA on social. #PUMAxMinions

PUMA

PUMA is one of the world's leading Sports Brands, designing, developing, selling and marketing footwear, apparel and accessories. For over 65 years, PUMA has established a history of making fast product designs for the fastest athletes on the planet. PUMA offers performance and sport-inspired lifestyle products in categories such as Football, Running and Training, Golf, and Motorsports. It engages in exciting collaborations with renowned design brands to bring innovative and fast designs to the sports world. The PUMA Group owns the brands PUMA, Cobra Golf and Dobotex. The company distributes its products in more than 120 countries, employs more than 11,000 people worldwide, and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany. For more information, please visit http://www.puma.com.

ABOUT ILLUMINATION

Illumination, founded by Chris Meledandri in 2007, is one of the entertainment industry's leading producers of event-animated films. Illumination's film franchises include two of the top-six animated films of all time, and its iconic brands—infused with memorable and distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance—are beloved all over the world.

Illumination, which has an exclusive financing and distribution partnership with Universal Pictures, is the creator of the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, which includes Minions, the second-highest-grossing animated film of all time, as well as the Academy Award^® -nominated Despicable Me 2 and the upcoming Despicable Me 3, which stars Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig and Trey Parker and arrives in theaters in June 2017. 

In all, Illumination's films, which also include the current theatrical hit Sing, as well as 2016's record-breaking The Secret Life of Pets—which had the largest opening ever for an original film, animated or otherwise, in U.S. history—have grossed more than $4 billion in worldwide box-office revenues and feature as their creative contributors an unparalleled collection of writers, artists, voice talent and musicians. 

Additional upcoming releases are a newly imagined version of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of The Grinch, which is set for November 2018; The Secret Life of Pets 2 in July 2019; Minions 2 in July 2020; and Sing 2 in December 2020.

Beyond the theater, Illumination's franchises have broadened their reach globally, year-round, with extensions into mobile games, consumer products and social/digital media. Reflecting the success of the Despicable Me franchise, "Despicable Me: Minion Rush" has become the fifth-most popular game ever, with more than 800 million downloads, while Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem attracts huge crowds at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood and will soon open at several locations around the world.

UNIVERSAL BRAND DEVELOPMENT

Universal Brand Development globally drives expansion of the company's intellectual properties, franchises, characters and stories through innovative physical and digital products, content, and consumer experiences.  Along with franchise brand management, Universal Brand Development's core businesses include Consumer Products, Games and Digital Platforms, and Live Entertainment based on the company's extensive portfolio of intellectual properties created by Universal Pictures, Illumination Entertainment, DreamWorks Animation, and NBCUniversal cable and television. Universal Brand Development is a business segment of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and part of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA).

SOURCE Universal Brand Development