Arwa Al-Banawi’s collab with adidas was a big “first” for the Arab fashion world; an iconic adidas shoe, reimagined by a Saudi designer for a global release. Sweetwater was tasked to launch the drop, celebrating the historic importance of Saudi talent having a global audience.
Thanks to restrictions, a live sneaker hype drop wasn’t an option. Since it wasn’t possible to bring the world to Saudi in person, it was done virtually, going live from legendary AlUla – an iconic Saudi site to celebrate a local legend becoming a global icon.
Sweetwater housed the live drop in an iconic art installation that juxtaposed contemporary style codes with stunning desert landscapes and farm goats – elements that played a key role in inspiring Arwa’s design. Sweetwater switched on a “Now Available” sign, opening sales via a special e-comm page before it sold out.
But that wasn’t all – along with the pre-sale live from AlUla and the global campaign photoshoot, Sweetwater brought the drop to a Dubai Souq pop-up and multiple stores in the region. Sweetwater was the chosen agency for ideation, design, content creation, and retail, hype, and influencer activation in KSA, Qatar, and Dubai.
In the end, the bespoke installation in the middle of the desert paired with retail activations and stylized video content generated tremendous hype around the launch and resulted in numerous PR features in global publications such as Hypebeast, Highsnobiety and more. With love from Arwa Al Banawi, adidas, and sweetwater – to the world.
