Dubai has long served as a hub for streetwear culture in the Gulf, with long-running events such as Sole DXB helping put the UAE on the map in the far-reaching urban fashion world, and uniting luminaries from the international scene with local designers and brands.
Over the last several years, those links between domestic and global brands have solidified with a number of projects, each of which caught the attention of fashion enthusiasts both in the UAE and far beyond its borders.
Here are some notable collaborations between home-grown brands and global players, a number of which have led to queues and sell outs upon their release.
Rascals x Hello Kitty
Part of the fun of streetwear collaborations lies in the unexpected, and the union of Dubai-born sandwich shop Rascals and Japanese cartoon character Hello Kitty is one of the most out of the box brand pairings the region has produced to date.
The Jumeira-based shop, which opened during Sole DXB 2022, released the capsule collection at to following year to celebrate its first anniversary.
Rascals co-founder and Dubai native Tarek Roumie told The National: “As one of the brands that is really heavy on collaboration culture, it was important for us to reset that standard of what it meant to be a brand from the UAE.
“Hello Kitty’s licensing company approached us about another brand, but when we saw that they also represented Hello Kitty, we put a proposal together. The Sanrio team in Japan absolutely loved it, and said yes immediately.”
The collection sold out after its release, according to Roumie, who says brand is keen to put together more offbeat collaborations.
Myneandyours x Fred Perry
British fashion brand Fred Perry, founded in 1952 by the tennis player of the same name, released a limited-edition capsule collection last month in collaboration with the Dubai-based Iraqi artist Marwan Sakarchi.
The artist is best known for a distinctive cloud design and features in numerous items designed in this collaboration, including new-look polo shirts.
Ravi Restaurant x adidas
When adidas announced a collaborative Superstar trailer and assorted clothing with the beloved Dubai-based Pakistani restaurant Ravi in 2022, it was one of the few capsule releases that transcend the streetwear community to become a cultural moment in the UAE. Shoes were listed for sale on the secondary market for prices in the thousands of dirhams in the weeks after release.
One shopper, Tooshank Sharma, standing in line at the adidas store in Dubai Mall on the morning of release, told The National: “This sneaker gives me a lot of nostalgia. I have been in Dubai for 10 years and I believe this is a piece of history, one you have to have.”
Among Few x Reebok Club C 85
In March 2022, Dubai-based premium streetwear brand and retailer Amongst Few released a collaborative sports show with Reebok. Titled Magic Carpet, it was inspired by the history of carpet weaving and featured Arabic-language text, a first for a Reebok.
The brand said in a statement: “The Arab world that we know today has a formal definition, but when exploring the world of carpets, it is important to understand that this world has shifted and changed over the centuries, changing cultural influences and confines over the ages. In essence, like these timeless crafted pieces the design of Magic Carpet Club C is made to be utilised, admired and appreciated by all cultures across the globe for decades to come.”
Goodbye Old Jumeirah x adidas
The German sportswear brand once again turned to a Dubai-based brand for another unique collaboration in April, this time collaborating with the Instagram-based photography project Goodbye Old Jumeirah on its resurgent Samba model.
The project, which aims to document “traditional, abandoned and demolished houses’ in the Dubai neighbourhood, produced a number of different takes on the Samba, each emblazoned with “Jumeirah” branding where “samba” would normally appear.
