PUMA’S STATE OF PLAY
As you well know by now, I’m in Sao Paulo with Puma along with Simko, Josh, Travis, James and Justin. There are 2 reasons we’re here. The first is to document the Ocean Race in which Puma participates, which is happening later this week. The second, and more important, is to document the local culture and get a feel for the people the youth that live here. It’s all part of Puma’s State of Play campaign—the first stop is here in Brazil, but it will be continuing on in other countries across the world. To match the campaign, there are a few products fit for the after-hours athlete:
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Sao Paulo by sunset. This place goes on forever on all sides, can’t stop won’t stop.
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Neoclassical architecture, never not getting it done. I think the reason it becomes so popular with people is because in every country all over the world, it’s used as a statement by the civic body. It’s intimidating, but welcoming and is meant to impress whomever is exposed to it. Corinthian columns, sweeping archways, huge vaulted ceilings and a careful eye for symmetry can be found in almost every example. Here, the Museu Paulista da Universidade de Sao Paulo had a huge accompanying garden (full of skateboarders) which you often find attached to neoclassical buildings etc., no matter where you are. Creative expression it seems, is far more universal than language…which we’re all finding quickly because none of us can fluently speak Portugese.
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Walked through Batman Alley in Sao Paulo yesterday. Graffiti and street art are entirely legal and encouraged here. Up and down the walls, garages and back lots of buildings are thousands of different tags, murals and messages.
Every Wednesday there’s a rap battle that goes down and while I can’t speak Portugese and can’t rap, I kinda wanna see what that’s all about. This is just one of many pieces we saw, prolly gonna drop a few as we make our way through the city this week.
One thing you can’t overlook in Sao Paulo is the youth culture. There are tons of kids in the streets, not in a disenfranchised youth kind of way, but in a convivial way. They all hang out, much like the kids do in Manhattan. There is a massive skateboarding culture here and you can easily spot a group of kids going from hill to hill, mostly on longboards. It’s nice to see them all sort of rally around something as opposed to getting in each other’s face about it.
