Puma has hired footwear industry veteran James Carnes as its new senior vice president of creative direction in hopes of getting “more consumers excited” about the German sportswear brand.
In this newly created role, Carnes will work to align creative direction with the company’s overall strategic ambitions, set the seasonal direction for the business units and create a long-term look and feel for the brand across consumer touch points, Puma noted. He will report directly to chief brand officer Maria Valdes.
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“James is a very highly regarded leader in our industry, and he has been instrumental in shaping some of the most influential performance and lifestyle products, labels, and platforms,” Valdes said in a statement. “With a strong background in industrial design and a deep understanding of both athletes and consumers, he will play an important role in getting our customers and consumers excited about Puma once again.”
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Carnes joins Puma after working as an independent consultant and investor in the wider footwear industry since 2021. Prior to that, Carnes spent nearly 20 years at Adidas where he held several leadership positions in design, creative direction and strategy. Previous roles at Adidas included vice president of global brand strategy and sustainability as well as senior vice president of global design and creative director of sport performance.
“Creative direction is about more than seasonal trends and colors,” Carnes added. “It is about defining how Puma holistically presents itself in the market, harnessing the company’s portfolio of world class innovation, and deeply connecting with consumers. We have the amazing opportunity to modernize the image and style of one of the most iconic sports brands in the world and I look forward to leading our teams and collaborating with my colleagues to make this happen.”
Carnes’ appointment follows Puma’s recent decision in October to put brand marketing, product, creative direction, innovation and go-to-market into a single global organization led by Valdes. Puma noted at the time of the move that the restructure was aimed at enabling “stronger and more consistent” storytelling for its products.
All of these moves come as the brand looks to refuel excitement across the business. In February, the company logged a Q4 sales drop of 20.1 percent, currency adjusted, to 1.56 billion euros.
The brand’s annual sales fell 8.1 percent in currency adjusted terms to 7.29 billion euros, down from 8.39 billion euros in 2024, but slightly better than market consensus.
“2025 was a reset year for us,” Puma chief executive officer Arthur Hoeld said in a statement in February. “We want to…return to above-industry growth and generate healthy profits in the medium term.”
In January, Anta Sports Products Limited inked an agreement with Groupe Artémis, the investment company of the Pinault family, to acquire a 29.06 percent stake in Puma SE in a deal worth 1.5 billion euros, or about $1.8 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026.