Rihanna on Being a Soccer Mom, Designing Her Own Jerseys, and the New Puma Avantis

Rihanna has loved soccer her entire life. Now that she’s got two kids of her own, she can’t wait to be a soccer mom.

Her two sons, RZA and Riot, are too young to hit the pitch just yet. She says they’re already rolling balls around the house though and is hopeful they’ll pick up the sport when they’re old enough. She’s ready to embrace the team mom lifestyle—sort of. Don’t expect to see the global superstar pulling up in a minivan with some frumpy jeans on game day. What she will wear is one of her pairs of Puma Avanti sneakers. And there will be snacks, plenty of snacks.

“Keywords for me: comfort and style,” Rihanna tells Complex. “There’s a way to accomplish both. I think that’s what it means to be a soccer mom.” The outfit she’s wearing at her Los Angeles press conference easily checks both boxes: a pair of white Avantis and a colorful Convertible Polo Dress by Christopher John Rogers. “You have to show up at the game with other soccer moms who actually took the time to get dressed. You cannot show up in PJs. You only get to do that when you drop the kid off to school. When you come back for the game, you better have some good sneakers on, some pants, and some snacks. Everybody loves a good snack.”

Embracing the soccer mom lifestyle was a big part of her latest Fenty x Puma Avantis campaign. Inspired by the Puma King cleats worn by Pelé during his playing years in the ’60s and ’70s, they feature a quilted leather upper, fold-over tongue, and rubber gum soles. This drop includes tonal white and red/white color schemes of the Avanti, complete with gold foil branding. To mark the release, Rihanna invited more than a dozen kids to a press conference in LA to ask her the tough questions: What’s your favorite snack? (french fries, of course) What cartoon character would you swap lives with? (the Cocomelon)

Sticking to the soccer theme, Romeo Beckham modeled in the official lookbook for the new Avantis. His parents, soccer icon David and his wife Victoria Beckham, have become mainstays on moodboards for their incredible street style throughout the 2000s, including Rihanna’s. She had some high praise for Victoria in particular.

“It’s like when you put someone in a bikini at the front of the treadmill as your motivation. Victoria Beckham is the poster that you stick on the treadmill as a soccer mom,” says Rihanna. “We’re not Posh Spice. We probably will never be, but we can pretend. We can stick her on our moodboard.”

Eventually, Rihanna wants to take her love of soccer even further. She’s been known to keep vintage jerseys in her closet for years. Long-sleeve goalie shirts covered in crazy patterns are her favorite. She has yet to design her own, but she wants to change that soon.

“I don’t know what that would look like, but I need to explore this. As much as I love jerseys, I should be making the ultimate jersey,” says Rihanna. “I probably will be really selfish and pick either my kids’ favorite colors or all Barbados colors.”

Since rejoining Puma in March 2023, apparel of any kind has been noticeably absent from the Fenty x Puma output. The partnership has been dedicated to footwear like the Avanti and the revitalized Creeper in numerous color schemes. The last Fenty x Puma gear was a motocross-inspired Spring 2018 line that debuted through a memorable runway presentation during New York Fashion Week. While she couldn’t say much, Rihanna teased that the return of Fenty x Puma apparel might be coming soon.

“We still have some surprises up our sleeve,” says Rihanna. “Fenty x Puma is always going to be the greatest. That sounds crazy and narcissistic, but I have to believe it.”