After releasing three basketball sneakers for hoop enthusiasts, Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball is finally ready to take his style off the court. On May 17, Ball and Puma will unleash the LaFrancé. For Ball’s first lifestyle shoe, which also shares the name of his lifestyle fashion brand, he and Puma co-created something that spoke to who he is and what inspired him.
The LaFrancé features a chunky outline, fat laces, and exaggerated proportions, taking inspiration from skate shoe footwear of the 1990s and 2000s. The upper ovals have designs inspired by the butterfly, which symbolizes Ball’s “1 of 1” motto. The shoe also includes many of Ball’s tattoos, such as “Heem,” and the flames embroidered on the toe box. The LF logo appears on the soles and tongues.
While the lifestyle section of the shoe store may be a new frontier for Ball, the LaFrancé, specifically the “Amour” colorway, isn’t anything new for the Charlotte guard. His previous on-court footwear, from the MB .01 to the MB .03, all embrace Ball’s individuality. For the new lifestyle shoe, Ball and the brand used color the same way his basketball kicks do, and took on his personality.
“If you know Melo, you know he does everything large. From the chain to the logos to the car, dude’s living large! So, we had to come through with a silhouette to fit that profile,” Noah Bice, the Puma Hoops designer who worked on the LaFrancé, said in a news release.
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In a way, that made him and Puma a perfect match. The storied brand once ran the hardwood. Players such as Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Isiah Thomas wore Pumas with great success. Then, the company stepped away and returned in 2018. Puma signed Ball as a rookie in 2020 and made him its first athlete to receive a signature sneaker since its hiatus. Their history called for something big and the former Rookie of the Year delivered, beginning in his first game in the NBA. “Melo definitely helped a lot,” Puma’s head of design for basketball Jeremy Sallee said in 2022. “And his personality is perfect for being the lead dude at a brand. It was a godsend for real.”
The “Amour” fits that pattern of someone who believes he’s from another world. It’s draped in fire red and is impossible to miss. More importantly, mistaking it for another shoe seems impossible. “Amour” is the first of many colorways set for release.
“Swaggy. Crazy. Colorful. Rare.” That’s how the former All-Star described his latest shoe. The LaFrancé sneaker is part of a collection that includes apparel — graphic tees, a mesh tank, shorts, and track pants.
The initial Puma LaFrancé release will be available at Puma.com, the Puma NYC Flagship store, Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, Champs and select retailers worldwide.
Marcus Shorter is a communications professional and writer. When he’s not scribbling thoughts for Consequence, Cageside Seats or Bloody Disgusting, he’s getting extra nerdy about rap lyrics, politics, poetry and comic books.
