Strong demand for sneakers designed by singer Rihanna helped Puma achieve higher-than-expected sales growth in the fourth quarter and the German sportswear firm said on Thursday a busy sports calendar should help it in 2016. Puma, which fell out of favour as a fashion brand for women, has made tapping into the booming female sportswear market a key part of its strategy for getting back into the race with industry leaders Nike and Adidas . It has appointed Rihanna, famous for hits such as Umbrella, as creative director and the singer launched her first clothing collection for the company last week in New York, a goth-inspired range in black and white sported by models wearing black lipstick.
