Cloudtilt

LOEWE’s 2023 collaboration with Swiss performance brand On marries expressive artistry with performance innovation. Cloudtilt takes the lifestyle sneaker into elevated territory: a fluid, precision-crafted ride that responds to the wearer’s movement.

An accompanying pop-up was to take over Mall of the Emirates, one of Dubai’s most fashionable destinations. LOEWE sought to use the space to reimagine the Cloudtilt’s trend-setting aesthetic and its new CloudTec Phase® midsole in a way that would make waves.

To keep pace with the Cloudtilt’s codes of innovation and craft, AKQA created a one-of-a-kind kinetic art installation that doubled as the pop-up’s floor.

Stepping onto it, visitors were transported into a realm of aesthetic wonder. The shoe’s design unfolded like ripples, each step painting a masterpiece and leaving a trail of moving art. A poetic retail experience: a pop-up that made you look down.

Three signature Cloudtilt colourways, Purple Rose, Lime Green and Forever Blue, inspired delicate, gossamer-like clouds that rippled across the floor. Layers of iridescent hues on a futuristic knitted mesh, paired with the LOEWE anagram and On’s mark, shimmered to life with each step.

The installation pushed the boundaries of reactive kinetics. Bespoke code inspired by reaction-diffusion brought the animation and its real-time responsiveness to life, housed in a state-of-the-art touchscreen reinforced to become the floor itself.

What began as an experimental step in Dubai proved its resonance on a larger stage. For its next collaboration with On, LOEWE adopted the Walk of Art concept across flagship destinations worldwide, from the facade of Selfridges in London to Dubai Mall, Shanghai IAMP and Chengdu. An idea born of craft and movement had, quite naturally, gone global.