K-Swiss

About a year into my time at Vayner, Gary tapped me to write and direct the launch spot for his K‑Swiss sneaker collaboration, Clouds & Dirt. It was a big moment—and the brief was completely open.

I landed on a concept built around duality: greatness demands both dreaming with your head in the clouds and working with your hands in the dirt. On one side, we follow an ad agency owner, deeply entrenched in his business empire. On the other, a ballerina—the perfect counterweight. Ballet is brutal: it’s graceful, yes, but grounded in grit. It requires obsession, pain, repetition—the same forces that drive entrepreneurs. Mid‑shoot, the ballerina told me, “In ballet you strive for perfection, but perfection doesn’t exist.” That insight became our metaphor for the perpetual carrot we all chase.

The final spot visualizes what Clouds & Dirt is really about: whether you’re dreaming big or grinding in the trenches, the drive stays the same.