Spanish footwear brand Camper has chosen Joan Thiele as the protagonist of its Fall/Winter 2026 Pelotas campaign. To launch it, the brand hosted an evening in Milan on 29 October, with a dinner and a live performance by the singer. The Joan Thiele Camper campaign images, shot by photographer Guen Fiore, follow Thiele in quiet moments between one show and the next, relaxing in her living room or going through her day in the new boxing-inspired boots.
Why Camper chose Joan Thiele
The brand links the two through the Mediterranean, the sea that connects Camper's roots in Mallorca with Thiele's Italian background. Her music mixes R&B, soul and jazz with the cinematic atmosphere of Italian film soundtracks from the 1960s and 1970s, and Camper sees that openness to different influences as a parallel to its own identity.
Thiele was born in Desenzano del Garda, on Lake Garda, to a Colombian father, and spent her childhood between Colombia and Italy. She released her first music in 2016 and works as both a singer and a producer. In 2023 she won the David di Donatello for Best Original Song with "Proiettili (Ti mangio il cuore)", sung with Elodie for the film Ti mangio il cuore. In 2025 she made her debut in the main competition of the Sanremo Festival with "Eco", and released her second album, Joanita, in February of the same year. She returned to Sanremo in 2026 to duet with Nayt.
The Joan Thiele x Camper campaign images
Guen Fiore's photographs move away from the stage. Instead of the concerts, they show the time around them: Thiele at rest at home, or out during the day, with the Pelotas boots as part of her routine rather than the centre of a staged scene. The choice keeps the focus on the singer's daily life and on how the shoes are actually worn.
The Pelotas boot for Fall/Winter 2026
At the centre of the project is the Pelotas, the silhouette Camper introduced in 1995. For Fall/Winter 2026 it is reworked as a boot inspired by the world of boxing, with a new hand-brushed metallic finish produced exclusively in Europe. The upper is made from Leather Working Group certified leather, and the rubber sole, with its 87 small balls, is stitched to the upper all the way around, at 360 degrees.
The boxing reference comes from the archive. Camper first brought back a boxing boot-inspired Pelotas with a hand-brushed finish in its Fall/Winter 2024 campaign, and the new version continues that line with a metallic surface. The Pelotas has also been the starting point for collaborations, such as SUNNEI's Pelotissima sneaker, a maximalist take on the 1996 Pelotas Nu with an XL EVA sole.
Camper, from Mallorca to Milan
Camper was founded in Mallorca in 1975 and built its name on practical, comfortable shoes with a Mediterranean point of view. Its more experimental line, CAMPERLAB, presented a Fall/Winter 2026 collection inspired by the winters of Lapland in Paris in January. The Milan evening launched the Joan Thiele Camper campaign in Italy, the country of its new face.
Kristin Kaye
Insatiably curious about human expression, she immerses herself in literature, theater, art, and dance. Her academic journey led to degrees in Modern Literature, where she delved into The Furioso, and Historical Sciences with a focus on Contemporary History. Her studies took her to the prestigious Erasmus University Rotterdam, broadening her international perspective.
Her passion for culture isn't confined to personal enjoyment—it spills onto the pages of various publications. There, she explores not only artistic endeavors but also civil rights issues and the myriad ways human culture manifests itself. For her, writing about these topics isn't just a profession; it's an irresistible calling that stems from her deep-seated fascination with the human experience.
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