RIDE ON WITH PUMA TO SOLE DXB
As I mentioned to a few people already, probably the best event of launching a sneaker for me happen earlier this year in Oslo with Puma and Helly Hansen. This time Puma invited me for another one but the quality level expectations were very high after the Nordic adventure.
Anyway, the whole happening took place in a completely different environment this time in the great city of Dubai. Going from 1° in Prague to 30° in UAE was a bit of shocker but a pleasant one. The caretaking of us was in another dimension with the super luxurious hotel and everything around the city where I had a real problem not to look towards the clouds constantly. Yes, I'm speaking of the tall buildings including the world's highest building named Burj Khalifa which was really breathtaking when one stands under it.
But let's get to the point. As our friends in Puma are working their magic lately and really getting back on to the horse with creating very relevant products and working with the most relevant brands and artists.
The showcase of this culture support was a part of one of the most prestigious streetwear/fashion/music festival called Sole DXB (or Sole Dubai as I was explained :). All the important brands were there showcasing the best of what they do, introducing some new hot stuff and entertaining people together with brand ambassadors of global ranks.
Puma outperformed itself and hosted us in a huge brand house with two (!) terraces, a store and a custom workshop in cooperation and celebration with China Town Market. The whole "booth" was placed near to the main stage so enjoying the live performances at the main stage was really special.
The main star of the show in terms of footwear was the new Rider - a retro-inspired silhouette with a modern twist, classic looks, and everyday comfort. I came prepared with the summer-themed colorway of the Puma Future Rider and was gifted a beautiful Style Rider at the spot. The main surprise came however when we were given an opportunity to work on our own customized shoe with the whole OG team from China Town Market and the footwear choice went to the Puma x China Town Market Rider which was created only for the Sole DXB occasion and was only given to 50 lucky people who attended the event. As the big trend of customization and personification was all over the place, we had to do it with the OG's in the personification game.
Except that we've experienced the city, live music concerts of a few interesting music bands (Wu-Tang Clan Forever! for the first time in my life) it was an amazing experience and I'm really glad that Puma believed in our skills in content creation and invited us for another great adventure.
And as usual, if you like the Puma Rider sneakers, head to Footshop to pick your favorite colorway and if you need more inspiration, please find more pics on our 1000sneakers Instagram account.