The GEL-1090 was born from motorcycle design
a 2003 running silhouette shaped by fairings, speed lines and the checkered flag. For its global reintroduction, we built the machine back around the shoe.
Nine colourways, nine stages — each built from modular motorcycle components, with its own material palette: chromed pipes and orange glow, blue metallic fairings in cold vapor, reflective steel on synthetic ground.
Shot and rendered as one: a 3D scan anchored the geometry, studio photography delivered light and reflection plates, and CGI built everything the camera couldn’t reach.
Developed with The Gaabs for ASICS Europe under the campaign line Built for the Thrill, the project reintroduced a silhouette whose design language had always belonged to motorsport — tiger claw marks, sweeping midsole grooves drawn from the checkered flag. Rather than photographing the shoe against that heritage, we rebuilt it: modular motorcycle components — fairings, exhausts, mechanical surfaces — arranged into a digital architecture around the product.
Physical and digital production were matched throughout. A 3D scan of the shoe served as shadow and geometry reference, on-set photography provided lighting and reflection plates, and digital lights were calibrated against the studio setup for continuity across all deliverables. Built and animated in Cinema 4D, rendered in Octane. The campaign delivered two films, key visuals and hero assets for each of the nine colourways.
Client: Asics
Year: 2019