Google and Ellesse collaborate for one-off nameless trainer drop

Google and Ellesse have collaborated with footwear customiser MattB to create a limited-edition nameless trainer, only available via posters and on social media by using the Google App.

The mixed-media custom design on Ellesse’s new all-white trainer design is a never-seen-before and unique design, merging fine art with digital culture.

The trainer model has no name, meaning that it can’t be searched the traditional way with words - only via Google’s visual search tool. According to Google, the aim of the collaboration is to demonstrate how easy it is to “Find That Thing” on the Google App using images instead of words - particularly the "indescribable and one-of-a-kind items we sometimes don’t have the words for".

Posters of the trainers have been popping up in London’s Euston and around Manchester since Monday. They have been shown off on social by rapper and trainer lover IAMDDB (Diana De Brito).

People who spot one of the “Find That Thing” posters have the chance of winning a limited edition pair of Google x Ellesse trainers, customised by MattB Customs, by tapping the camera icon to search them in the Google app, uploading their image and filling in their details.

Footwear customiser, MattB Customs, who is already known for creating custom Jordan 4’s for Ed Sheeran and collaborations with Stella McCartney, said: “We live in such a visual culture and so much of customising is taking an existing shoe as your canvas and imagining and recreating something new and unique that stands out.

“My inspiration for the design came from the idea of connection through the internet. We wanted to explore this idea and as a team we collaborated on one canvas piece of art, mixing different mediums and art forms of printing, painting and digital. These one-of-a-kind custom trainers will never be recreated and it’s even cooler that they have to be seen to be searched.”

Ellesse’s UK Head of Marketing, Jennie Bianco, added: “We love MattB’s custom design of our new trainer and it has been great exploring how visual search opens up the ways in which people can find and engage with the creativity of trainer culture and streetwear. The Ellesse customer is naturally tech savvy and heavily invested in finding those rare and quirky things using their phones.”

Google spokesperson, Laurian Clemence, concluded: “We are seeing more than 8 billion searches per month using visual search on Google currently. This is nearly three times what we were seeing just last year, which is truly a testament to how helpful searching with your camera can be.”