Puma creates new global creative director job

By

Sarah Ahssen

Published
Jul 16, 2013

Puma (Kering group) has just appointed former O'Neill executive Torsten Hochstetter to the newly created job of global creative director, effective July 15. Torsten Hochstetter (age 46) held a similar position at O'Neill since 2011. For Puma, he will oversee design, creation and development of all performance and lifestyle lines of the German equipment maker. The new job description encompasses all categories of products — clothing, footwear and accessories.

Torsten Hochstetter will thus be in charge of the group's design teams around the world, organized on the same model as the six "business units," which include team sports, lifestyle accessories and licenses.

“Torsten Hochstetter is a proven expert in the sporting goods and fashion design industry,” said Björn Gulden, CEO of Puma since 1 July. He especially has a very strong profile in sports performance, even though he has a diverse background.

Before O'Neill, Torsten Hochstetter worked for Adidas in Germany, the United States and Japan as creative director sports performance and creative director sports style.

Puma has already employed a creative director, namely designer Hussein Chalayan. He joined the brand in 2008 while continuing to operate his own line. The designer was in charge of the Sport Fashion division, what is today known as Lifestyle. However, Chalayan is no longer affiliated with Puma since last May.