Fresh off the back of her success in co-designing first a bag range then ready-to-wear for American luxury brand Coach, Selena Gomez has rolled up her sleeves to co-design a high-fashion sneaker for PUMA.

The variation on the Phenom Lux style that dropped last year is available globally from today and marks the first collaboration between the sports brand and the star who’s fronted its ad campaigns in the past.

A far cry from its cult classic PUMA Suede shoe, this new leather style is high tech enough to satisfy sporty girls and completely modern in its aesthetic: chunky, white and embellished with a fat gold ankle chain. (The latter is removable if it’s too much of a stretch for you.)

“It has that chain that makes me feel womanly and makes me feel cool,” she has said. “It gives you a little bit of sparkle, and it can make you feel like you’re dressed up even when you’re in sweats.”

While the much-hyped shoe drops globally today – in Australia that means online and at the brand’s Westfield Miranda and Chatswood stores – only a limited number have been produced for this release.

And every pair comes with built-in feels: PUMA will donate $100,000 from sales to the Lupus Research Alliance, a non-profit charity focused on scientific research and support for Lupus suffers like Gomez.


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“It’s been really fun to work so closely with PUMA on the design of this shoe,” Gomez states. “I’m also proud to partner with them in helping to affect lives and bring attention to a cause that is very important to me personally.”

Which do you prefer the look of – these new blinged-up Phenom Lux trainers co-created by Gomez, or the ballerina-inspired En Pointe sneaks she modelled for the brand last year? Tell us in the comments below.