Adventures With Puma: Street Art Makes for Great Prints

4:00 PM, April 24 2012

By John Jannuzzi

I've been back in the US for about 24 hours but am still reeling from my trip to Brazil with Puma. Luckily, I have my old-school suede kicks to remind me of happier days spent on the beach and bumming around São Paulo. It was a great trip, but as always, New York is the best place to come back to.

While in São Paulo, we were guided around by a few locals—fashion editors, actually, which made me feel right at home. In the beginning of our stay, they took us through Batman Alley, a haven for graffiti and taggers where street art is encouraged. In fact, São Paulo is the street art capitol of the world and with a booming economy, it's getting more recognition than ever before.

It's hard not to imagine the work being used elsewhere, especially on clothing. With designers experimenting more and more with prints, I can't help but hope references of São Paulo start to appear in the collections of Prabal Gurung, Mary Katrantzou, or maybe even Kenzo. Have a look at the gallery and see for yourself.

Pro Tip: Click the enlarged view for a better viewing experience.

In the interest of full disclosure: the big wigs at Puma took care of my transportation and accommodations.

This was actually the outside wall of one of the most prestigious photo studios in São Paulo. One of my traveling companions did a quick photoshoot outside.