JW Anderson

Sneaker Spring 2021 Ad Campaign

Review of JW Anderson Sneaker Spring 2021 Ad Campaign by Creative Director Jonathan Anderson with Artist Mamacomma, Shiomi Wada, Alya Hatta, Pol Anglada, Rudy Lim, Jae Suk Kim, & Honno

JW Anderson celebrates its first-ever sneaker release with a unique series of artist collaborations. The eponymous designer called on a curated selection of international artists to update and modify the shoe through their personal artistic approach.

The shoes themselves are treated as a canvas for creativity. Shiomi Wada, for example, added paint and sculptural elements to envision a sneaker being slowly digested by earthworms, while Pol Anglada brought his signature watercolor style to illuminate the shoe with a homoerotic wrestling scene. Rudy Lim took a literally deconstructionist approach, creating a unique sort of sculpture by freezing in time a moment of destruction.

The sneakers are currently on display at the JW Anderson flagship store in London.

The campaign feels like a unique physical and imaginative way to do an artist collaboration, giving the artist not just creative control of the campaign imagery, but of the product itself.

JW Anderson Creative Director | Jonathan Anderson
Photographer | Scott Duncan
Artists | Mamacomma, Shiomi Wada, Alya Hatta, Pol Anglada, Rudy Lim, Jae Suk Kim, & Honno