I heard through the grapevine a few weeks ago that when Domenico De Sole was running Gucci Group, he had recommended to the board of PPR that they buy Puma. The board decided no, because they didn't understand the link between fashion and athletics. Of course, they changed their minds, (notably after one board member left. Brownie points to anyone who knows who that is). Last April, they paid $7.1 billion for a 27 percent stake in the company. Talking about the offer with someone involved with Gucci at the time, we could only remember that the initial price suggested some five or six odd years ago was $250 million, but we couldn't remember for what size of a stake. Regardless, it was a pittance compared to what they finally paid. So when I got an email from Puma's PR asking if I wanted to interview Puma C.E.O. Jochen Zeitz, I jumped at the chance to talk to him about the merger, Puma's relationship to fashion and its future with PPR. I also asked him to confirm the initial offer. And he did, I think. In his own way.

Jochen Zeitz

Q: What is more important to Puma, sports or fashion?
A: The simple answer is both.

Q: One must carry more weight?
A: Not really. We are a sport lifestyle brand. When we talk about sports lifestyle, it is written in one word because we believe you cannot sell sport without proper styling and also the innovative aspect of sport can be inspiring for fashion. The heart of the Puma brand meets in the middle of sports and fashion.

Q: OK, but what do you prefer? Going to a fashion show or going to a
football match?
A: Both. It depends on my mood. I was in Ghana for the opening match of the Cup of Nations and I will be at a fashion show tonight. That's the beauty of my job.

Q: But you must have you taken advantage of being part of PPR to start going to some of their shows like Gucci or Yves Saint Laurent? I mean, models! Up close! Most men in sports would kill for that chance.
A: No. If it is not anything to do with Puma I don't go. There are enough exciting events with Puma alone for me to go to.

Q: But surely that was behind the merger with PPR. Or are you trying to tell me you did it for the $7 billion alone?
A: It was more to have a home and purse a long-term strategy. A strategic partner can be helpful in certain areas. More from a fashion point of view with PPR, but they do also own a football team that we are sponsoring. And they bring opportunities in Africa -- they have opened a Puma store in Ghana for instance.

Q: Since you mentioned Africa, let's take a question from one of my readers, WilloughbySpit. "Given your obvious passion for Africa as reflected through your support of the African cup and the teams involved, do you see your company's actions as a model other brands could use for infusing the continent with capital and investment as a basic part of their marketing efforts?"
A: For us it is just part of who we are and what we do. We are about innovation and we want to look at new ways of moving the brand and our product forward and we believe there is tremendous excitement in Africa we want to use that as part of our self-expression. It's about passion, colorfulness and diversity. To bring Africa to the rest of the world or innovation through Africa is an approach that no one has ever selected before. And that's why we got so heavily involved.

Q: Have you been working with Gucci Group executives on any of these projects?
A: No. We work totally independently. We meet and greet and exchange ideas but we work totally separately. Of course we have partnerships -- Alexander McQueen is a Gucci Group brand and we have been working with him for a long time. But it doesn't mean that we won't utilize the Gucci Group know how in product development but it will never be Gucci as a brand. It will be their infrastructure .

Q: Like in terms of production?
A: Absolutely.

Q: So do you see Puma doing a line of luxury goods?
A: No. We will never be pure fashion, we will always have an element of sport that combines with style and fashion.

Q: You were the first sports brand to do designer collaborations, but others, like Adidas, have taken them much further. Why?
A: We are working with Alexander McQueen now. We started with footwear, but I am not ruling out that one day we might do apparel.

Q: OK, another question from WilloughbySpit. "Much has been made of your recent comments that your public listing is "not necessary" for Puma's operations. Does this reflect a desire to free the company from some of the perceived constraints placed upon publicly traded companies, and perhaps a way to continue altering Puma's business model as you have since you took the helm?"
A: I don't look at being public as a constraint. I have run the company for 15 years as a public company, and my approach has always been strategic and for the long-run. Whether I have one owner or thousands of owners it really makes no difference. We are not short-term quarterly interested.

Q: He (she?) also asked, "In recent statements, you sound guardedly optimistic about Puma's outlook for 2008, especially in the US, which seems to run counter to the prevailing macroeconomic wisdom. What specifically are you looking at that leads to this conclusion?"
A: I think they confuse me with someone else. I think it is going to be a tough year for the US once again and it is much too early to see a trend on the horizon. For the US I would expect it to be another difficult year.

Q: So will you still increase your marketing spend in 2008?
A: Yes, we have four major events this year so we will be spending heavily.

Q: A fellow Portfolio.com blogger, Felix Salmon, asked, "Will Puma continue to send
cease-and-desist letters to bloggers who give it free publicity, like they did with me?"
A: Ultimately whatever carries the Puma logo needs to be representing us properly and some of those ads ... although they didn't come from us, they did portray our logo. So we said, "you can't put them up because they're not from us."

Q: Is it true that Domenico DeSole wanted to buy Puma when he was C.E.O. of Gucci?
A: Who said that? It speaks well for us and the desirability of our company.

Q: Is it true?
A: That I would not comment on.

That night I went to a Puma dinner, hoping to get a bit more from Mr. Zeitz. But I ended up seated at the opposite end of the table in celebrity Siberia and had to make do with small talk with sprinter Linford Christie, actress Cassandra Hepburn and singer Lemar. At the end of the meal, I got another chance with Zeitz, but even after a wine-fueled dinner, when I pressed for details all he would say was, "so when did you last see Tom Ford?" Trust me, you wouldn't want to play poker with this man. Which might just be why he was the first choice to take over Gucci Group when Domenico De Sole was forced out.