Proving that the current aesthetic zeitgeist is truly global in its reach, Dubai's highly successful Sole DXB event returns for another year with one of the strongest billings of industry heavyweights we've seen yet.
The annual street culture festival returns for another year at the Dubai Design District (d3) from December 7 to 9. Sole DXB works as both a community event and a music festival, but it's also a hub for the region's dynamic and growing streetwear community. With an international outlook, it's not only representative of the global reach of streetwear culture but the dialogue that's happening between ever more areas of the world. While previous years have honed in on the American and British influences to the culture, 2017 sees Japan's unique contribution up for discussion and celebration.
To that end, Sole DXB welcomes Fragment Design's founder and the arguable 'godfather' of streetwear, Hiroshi Fujiwara, as one of this year's keynote speakers. Fujiwara will join Staple Design's Jeff Staple, the jewelry designer and (in)famously the only women so far to own a storefront on LA's Fairfax Avenue, Melody Ehsani, and Peter Jansson and Mubi Ali of Stockholm's Sneakersnstuff to give their own unique insights into product and retail. Meanwhile, Peter Bittenbender, CEO of New York-based media company and record label Mass Appeal, will also be in attendance as well as Highsnobiety founder and publisher David Fischer to talk media, publishing, lifestyle and culture. Tickets for the event are on sale now via soledxb.com.
Hosting an ever-more robust lineup to cater to the community feels, this year's Sole DXB welcomes the UK's award-winning artist Kano as Friday's headliner alongside G.O.O.D. Music's Pusha T who tops the bill Saturday. America's Goldlink, Germany's Serious Klein and Manchester's upcoming soul jazz pioneer IAMDDB back them up. As for the parties, the Highsnobiety x Sole DXB opening party on the Thursday night kicks things off, featuring Sole DXB friends and legends DJ Stretch Armstrong and DJ Shortkut on the decks. Streetwear legends PATTA Soundsystem feature during the after-parties, with DJs Tom Crane, Dave Lubin, and Andy Baxter serving fresh joints through the night.
With Japan being this year's focus, key brands from the region take center stage. This year, Sole DXB welcomes Neighborhood, Visvim, Wacko Maria, Undercover, and Non-Native to the table while core brands like ASICS, Reebok, PUMA and Nike will also host their own brand experiences. However, underscoring Sole DXB's central theme of the growing dialogue between east and west–west and east, the global language of streetwear as well as its disruptive power, European legacy brands Dior Homme and KENZO will, for the first time, be in attendance to preview their upcoming collections and create unique retail experiences for guests.
Tickets are available now for Friday and Saturday (Thursday evening is free). For more on the three-day event including travel info, check out the site for more info. Meanwhile, check out the images above for a taste of what's to come as well as our favorite street style shots from 2016 here.
