Dutch motion designer and 3D artist Freek Freriks in Rotterdam: “The Making Strides contest is an initiative to elevate and celebrate young female talent in tech with the goal to challenge and enable creators to design their own version of the Wind.RDY Parka Jacket, from the Adidas x Karlie Kloss collection.

“With this theme in mind, I decided to pay an homage to Katherine Johnson. She was an African American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a N.A.S.A. employee were critical to the success of the first and the subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights.

“During her 35-year career at N.A.S.A. and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her ‘historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a N.A.S.A. scientist’.
 

Client: Adidas
Director/animator: Freek Freriks