From the skate park to the monitor: How Natas directed PUMA’s new campaign

Over the last few months, we have been giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what really happens on the set of a big campaign. First up was Maxime Ballesteros, the photographer PUMA enlisted to capture the latest “Never Not Suede” campaign. A couple of months ago, we then gave the mic to our very own Fashion Director, Imruh Asha, who gave us more of an insight into what it takes to be a stylist working on such a big job. And now to round the series up, we’ve turned to French director Natas. 

Set in Athens, the mini-film from the “Never Not Suede” campaign follows a friendship group as they navigate unfamiliar surroundings, moving through the city and forming connections along the way. For Natas, who is from Annecy, an Alpine town in France, his own route into filmmaking began in a similarly organic way. “I started with videography and photography through skateboarding with my friends,” he explains. “Through skateboarding, I met Dih-meh, a Swiss rapper, and he asked me to do a music video for him. Because of this, I’ve done a lot of music videos. Everything followed up naturally, and I started doing a lot more campaigns, in fashion, especially.” 

Throughout the few days of the production, it became clear that, unlike just an ordinary shoot with models picked entirely based on their looks, all the cast members brought a different energy due to their own individual creative passions. For Natas, that sense of community and creativity has always been central to his work and the world around him. “I am lucky to be surrounded by creatives. I come from a group where there are others like me who film, do photography or DJ. Being around creative people in my everyday life inspires me,” he explains. 

That way of working feels particularly relevant to “Never Not Suede”, which at its core is a story about people more than products. The campaign begins with a group arriving somewhere unfamiliar, but the narrative is built around what happens next, including the friendships they form, the spaces they occupy and the moments that slowly transform a new place into a familiar one. Creating that feeling requires collaboration as much as direction. “The idea is to weigh the maximum amount of ideas, see what works and what does not and see how we can all be happy with the result.”

As a result, some of the strongest moments emerge during filming itself. Discussing one scene centred around a night out, Natas recalls discovering something unexpected about one of the cast members. “For Drop 3, there’s a scene that is a night out. I knew that there was one member of the cast, Paul, who was a very good dancer, and I realised it in the moment. I was not expecting it, and it was a great surprise.” Those kinds of moments bring a sense of unpredictability to the film, allowing the personalities of the cast to shape the final result beyond a pre-existing structure.

Just as friendship sits at the centre of the campaign, it also sits at the centre of Natas’s own story. Speaking on his move from Annecy to Paris, he focuses less on individual ambition and more on people who helped make that move possible. “My friends and I are a group of about ten skaters, all from Annecy; we’ve all been together since school. Being together as a group is what gave me the courage to come to Paris and immerse myself in what I wanted to do. They help me move forward.”

Over a decade on, that sense of collective progress continues to inform how he works today. Many of the collaborators he brings onto projects are long-time friends, creating a working environment built on trust and familiarity. “What I love is having my creative friends on set. It really inspires and reassures me. On this shoot, I have Atalya as my chief operator, but even before working together, we’ve been friends for a long time. I bring my friends along as much as I can, and we move forward together.”

The same perspective can be seen in the locations chosen for the campaign. Rather than relying on spectacle, many of the environments feel lived-in, carrying traces of real experiences and memories. One of Natas’s favourite locations was a restaurant transformed into an improvised rave space. “My favourite location has been the restaurant where we created a rave environment. It reminds me of memories I have from moments in Paris or Marseille. We used this refrigerator cupboard, which is usually used to keep meat, as a DJ booth, and that is something I’ve actually seen in real life. These are the sort of details I love bringing to a campaign.”

Those details are what ultimately make the world of “Never Not Suede” feel convincing. The story may be fictional, but it is built from familiar experiences, observations and relationships that already exist. Across the campaign, the Suede is present in all of those moments alongside the cast, appearing in new surroundings without ever feeling out of place, in the same way it has across multiple subcultures for nearly six decades. 

Watch the video above to check out behind-the-scenes footage with Natas.