The NMD S1 was adidas' step forward. Mine was making it live in 3D — every stitch, every fibre, before anyone could hold it.

The NMD S1 was adidas' step forward. Mine was making it live in 3D — every stitch, every fibre, before anyone could hold it.

Adidas NMD S1

Adidas NMD Event

Adidas NMD S1

Company

Self-initiated

Self-initiated

Timeline

2021

2021

2026

Role

Art Direction, 3D Production

Art Direction, 3D Production

Project overview

adidas Originals and Berlin sneaker institution solebox launched the NMD S1 with two designers — Rob Boyd out of London, Jeongli out of Seoul — each crafting custom tracksuits around the silhouette. The release was directed by Manuel Haring of 979 Studio. My contribution was the digital aspect: I rendered the shoe and both outfits in a fully rendered 3D environment—so detailed that the knit pattern, the seams, and the volume of the sole were visible long before the actual market launch.

The Build

There were no studio shots to work from. The two tracksuits existed only as raw cut-pattern photos and loose material references — so I rebuilt them from the ground up. Every panel was reconstructed in 3D straight from the flat patterns, every fabric built out from photo reference until the weave, the mesh and the drape behaved like the real thing. It's the part nobody sees, and it's exactly where the whole illusion is won or lost. Get the material wrong and the render dies; get it right and it breathes.

The Shoe

The NMD S1 itself came in as a scan with base textures. I took it a step further — refining the materials, sharpening the details on the Prime-Knit upper and the sole, and then lighting the whole thing in a way a product photo never can: to show how the light falls across the knit, how the sole supports the weight, how the object feels in motion and not just on the shelf. Real-surreal, not clinically sterile. Manuel then edited the final film.

Outcome

The NMD S1 dropped on August 12th as a gallery-style release in Berlin, with the renders running as the digital layer of the campaign. Sabukaru featured the project, framing the 3D work as the digital half of a next-generation adidas moment — next to the physical garments and the designers behind them. Sometimes the extra mile is rendering every single stitch.

Credits

Direction — Manuel Haring, 979 Studio
Clients — Adidas, Solebox
Fashion Designer — Rob Boyd, Jeongli

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