VING
A Thai sandal brand repositioned as performance sportswear, from strategy to its flagship store.
- Year
- 2024–25
- Made at
- Essential Studio, Bangkok
- My role
- Creative direction
- Credits
- Images © VING and Essential Studio
The brief
VING makes performance sandals in Thailand for runners and active people. The products were strong, but the brand around them was scattered, with inconsistent visuals and stories left untold. VING asked Essential Studio to reposition it as a confident Thai brand, ready to grow at home and to prepare for Europe.
What we decided
Everyone who wears them. Research showed the sandals serve marathon runners and also walkers, older customers and children, all looking for comfort, recovery and fewer injuries. The brand had to sound expert to athletes and still welcome everyone else.
A story about distance. "Chasing Horizons" ties the technology and the comfort to the next distance and a better version of yourself, and it can stretch to apparel later.
A store you walk through. The flagship near Bangkok's National Stadium is an experience centre on a circular route: the brand's history, hero products such as the carbon-plated NIRUN sandal, walls about recycled materials, a customisation lounge and room for events.
What came of it
A refined logotype with a "V" monogram, a palette grown from VING's red into sunrise tones, and one story that now runs through the training manuals, the packaging, the website and the store.