Google and Ellesse launch one-off “nameless trainer” drop

Google and Ellesse have collaborated on a rare and unique trainer drop with footwear customiser MattB Customs to create a limited edition “nameless trainer” that will only be available via posters and on social media by using the Google App to find them online.

The “nameless trainers” feature a mixed-media custom design from MattB Customs, known for customising footwear for the likes of Ed Sheeran and collaborating with Stella McCartney. The never-seen-before design features Ellesse’s new all-white trainer design and aims to merge “fine art with digital culture”.

As the trainer model has no name, it can’t be searched for traditionally with words, so the only way for sneakerheads to find them is to use Google’s visual search tool, the camera icon in the Google search bar.

According to Google, the collaboration aims to demonstrate how easy it is to “Find That Thing” on the Google App using images instead of words, particularly when it comes to the "indescribable and one-of-a-kind items we sometimes don’t have the words for".

Commenting on the collaboration, Matt Burgess of MattB Customs, said in a statement: “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.”

Google highlights new way to search with “nameless trainer” drop in collaboration with Ellesse and MattB Customs

Posters of these nameless trainers have been popping up around London and Manchester since Monday, as well as being 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. To find them all they need to do is tap the camera icon to search them in the Google app, uploading their image and filling in their details at ellesse.com/google.

Jennie Bianco, head of marketing at Ellesse UK, said: “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, added: “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.

“We’re also seeing a spike in searches around trainers this year versus previous years, so we’re making it easier for people to “Find That Thing” when you see something indescribable, or words simply escape you.”