Puma released the Thunder ‘Astroness’ sneaker in September to celebrate the 2018 Sneakerness Paris Convention. The spirit of France is rooted in the very essence of the honorary shoe: Inspired by the city of Marseille, lovingly known as “Mars” to its residents, a cosmic concept and colorway was developed. The nostalgic sneaker was influenced by the warm colour palettes of space, specifically the surface of Mars and the neon “International Orange” of NASA’s original space suits. Pierrick Dufrenoy, Chivalry’s Senior Designer and native Parisian, spearheaded the project as Creative Head of Design to produce photos and videos which capture the ‘Astroness’ sneaker in all of its celestial glory.
Pierrick Dufrenoy moved from Paris to Montreal in 2012, making his trans-continental relocation for a change of location, lifestyle, and pace. He quickly fell in love with the city and worked in various creative fields for several years before beginning his work with Chivalry in 2018.
SV: Talk us through the strategic and creative process for this campaign.
PIERRICK: In terms of music, I asked music producer / rapper Krisy if he would be interested in doing something for this video, as I know his work and I wanted something that fit perfectly with the imagery. He sent 7 beats, all different, and after a lot of hesitation we chose one that was just too good and added another level to the video.
SV: Were you inspired by any /TV shows/ fashion/ music/space-themed movies?
PIERRICK: Not really, of course there’s this iconic scene of Space Odyssey which happens to be the cover of the movie i think, where the astronaut is in the middle of a futuristic hallway that i wanted to recreate and the fact the the Cosmodome have a reproduction of a spaceship helped a lot! But besides that not really, I looked for some ref like Nasa’s pictures / space movies but more to get a feeling / vibe.
Seyong Ahn, our director of photography, clued us in as to how 360-degree shots of the shoes in the most fitting and flattering way:
SV: What was the creative benefit of utilizing 360 degree photography in this particular project?
SEYONG: The main benefit of the 360 degree photography is that it showcases the sneaker from all angles quickly and efficiently. Secondly, the idea of planets and the rotation of planets in the solar system that inspired the shoe itself is reflected in the movement of the product, as it becomes a singular entity while also being one with its inspiration. Having that technology available to us definitely brought the shoes to life in a way that wouldn’t be possible without those shots.