This past week we headed out to Dubai to experience our first ever Sole DXB festival. Since it began, the weekend festival quickly become a cultural hub in the middle east for all thing’s sneakers, fashion, music and lifestyle.
Taking place in Dubai’s D3 design district, overlooked by the Burj Khalifa and Dubai’s impressive skyline it made for a perfect location to house some of the world’s biggest brands and showcase some upcoming talent alongside legendary reggae and hip-hop artists from across the globe.
As soon as we stepped into the space, we were greeted by the towering structure of the Air Jordan Unite building which was showcasing some of this season’s most sought after AJ1 releases alongside the ‘Sole Ball Above All Invitational’ on the Unite court. We also had the privilege of witnessing an intimate talk between Patta’s very own Edson Sabajo and Basketball Legend Ray Allen.
Throughout the rest of the Sole DXB space we were greeted by London locals Archive DNA who had curated one of the largest, rarest ever collections of sneakers for sale. The collection was filled with everything from AJ1 Michael Jordan player samples, AM90 Alexander McQueen, Deftone Dunk Highs and many more! London based Labrum London and Studio ALCH were also on site showcasing their latest collections.
Our friends over at adidas Originals where also bringing the London experience to the desert with their stand split over three levels. The three-tiered structure was designed to look like a London tube station with the mid-tier featuring a tube train and Superstar branding! Inside they showcased some of their latest products, including the upcoming YEEZY Slides, Alexander Wang collection and Ultra BOOST 2020.
This year’s theme for Sole DXB was all about Reggae and the importance of the Sound System. Throughout the event we were able to view the “Rudeboy: Story of Trojan Records” film and bear witness to talks and DJ sets from the likes of Don Letts and Lee “Scratch” Perry in the Nyam and Scram area through a special one off sound system created by Uncle Ronnie.
Ahead of the event we had heard so much about the Sole Talks and had to check it out for ourselves, inside the Talks we were able to witness Mike Cherman and the Chinatown Market gang talk about the brand. Alongside this we were honoured to be in the room hearing the stories of Yasiin Bey and Talib Kweli as Black Star hosted Bobbito Garcia which needs no introduction to the status in the room there!
After hearing Mike Cherman talk about the brand, we were able to get a hands on experience with Chinatown Market courtesy of Puma who were running a customisable workshop to introduce the upcoming collection between the two brands. In the workshop we were able to get creative across apparel and totes with patches designed exclusively for Sole DXB. Whilst at the Puma stand, we were fortunate to witness live performances from the likes of YNB Cordae who brought the energy from his ‘The Lost Boy’ album alongside a stunning performance from Sevana.
Once the sun had set and we had checked out all the stands it was time to get our space at the main stage, where the night previous we had seen the fresh talent of Jamaica’s own Koffee. This night we would eagerly await Hip Hop royalty the Wu-Tang Clan who brought a close to the weekend’s events. Before Wu-Tang however, we enjoyed a variety of other artists on the main stage including Ocean Wisdom who brought the energy with his signature acapella fast delivery! This was followed up by Protoje and Rico Nasty who warmed the crown up for Black Star and then a performance like none other from Wu-Tang celebrating their album 36 Chambers!
Check out our video recap and photography diary below and look out for the upcoming collections from adidas Originals, Air Jordan and PUMA to be available at Footpatrol..!
