Life

Sole Dxb Got Soul

Celebrating Diversity And Creativity

December 15, 2017

Mariam Nihal



Saudi Gazette

A great example of perseverance, determination and absolute incredible taste in arts and culture- Sole Dxb completed another successful run last week in Dubai. If you attended the event, we know you are already looking forward to next year.

The three day festival dedicated to the significant sneaker culture fueled by street style, music and art, brought more local and international names to the forefront this year. This year’s theme revolved around Japan’s budding impact on street culture around the world, with archetypical Japanese billboards that served as a great stage entrance for the festival that took place from December 7-9. Bridging the gap between the East and West, the festival gathered thousands of urban trendesetters that spoke the global language of streetwear.

Sole Dxb is predominantly a community event designed to start new conversations and connect creative minds. It also serves as the melting point where people from across the world share their love for fashion, hip hop while also allowing room for diverse philosophies. The lifestyle event kicked off with the international premiere of Word is Bond, a documentary about the transformative power of lyrics in hip hop in collaboration with Cinema Akil.

Indeed among the highlights were exclusive footwear drops, sneakerheads got a chance to create their own custom Nike Air Force 1’sAs, fashion merchandise was sold in pop-up vending machines and the event was headlined by one of the most influential streetwear stars, Hiroshi Fujiwara. Cadillac, in partnership with The Andy Warhol Museum, launched the final exhibition of ‘Letters to Andy Warhol’ at Sole Dxb this year. Music and live performances also witnessed enormous growth, with more names on the bill this year. Pusha T was joined by Syrian artist Moh Flow from Dubai for a performance; other acts included Kano, The Nxworries, Knxwledge, H.E.R, Goldlink and Serious Klein, with Manchester urban jazz singer IAMDDB.

Part of the talks welcomed Highsnobiety founder and publisher David Fischer and Peter Bittenbender, CEO of New York-based Media Company and record label Mass Appeal among others. Puma, Reebok, Levis, Timberland, Vans and Nike hosted tailor-made brand experiences and were joined by other international brands such as Visvim, Wacko Maria, Undercover, Neighborhood and Non-Native at Sole Dxb this year.

Founders Hussain Moloobhoy, Joshua Cox, Kris Balerite, and Rajat Malhotra launched the movement in 2010. Unlike many other lifestyle engineered excursions, in the Middle East, Sole Dxb managed to see an organic growth that has so far helped fuel the scene including homegrown artists and entrepreneurs with a promising platform. Given the consistent and substantial growth of the festival, Sole Dxb piqued the interest of major influential brands. This year, the founders opened doors to luxury brands Dior Homme and Kenzo who brought out exclusive new pieces from the SS18 collection.

The team revealed they are currently working on Audio, a platform with live music for a smaller audience.


December 15, 2017
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