Categories
Design Sneakers

Solelab – The Coolest Looking Sneaker Shop

Over the weekend I passed by the Solelab location in Shuwaikh and it’s HUGE. The place looks as good as it does in the photos and there’s even a beautiful coffee bar in one corner. Actually, if there were more seats and tables, it would also be a great-looking coffee shop.

I didn’t end up buying anything but they did have a pretty large selection of sneakers as well as some clothes from brands like Carhartt, Butter Goods, and Huff. There’s also a cool-looking sneaker laundry in case you want to get your sneakers cleaned.

If you want to check the place out, the store is located in Shuwaikh in the same complex as Spark and Pet Lobby. They’ve also got more photos on their account if you want to check them out @solelabkw

Categories
Sneakers

Review: Philips Sneaker Cleaner

Last week I spotted this cool-looking sneaker cleaner at Xcite and since it was selling for around 10KD I decided to buy it and try it out. I wear Ultraboosts 90% of the time and when I want to clean them I just throw them in the washing machine and they come out looking brand new. But, for the remaining 10% of the time, I wear sneakers that need to be cleaned with a brush by hand. This sneaker cleaner is basically a battery-operated brush.

I tried using it to clean a few pairs of sneakers and I don’t think it does a better job when compared to a normal brush nor do I think it cleans any faster. It comes with different brush heads for different sneaker materials and you still need a good sneaker soap but those can be found at local sneaker shops. When I picked up the unit they had an offer where if you spent 20KD or more you could get the sneaker cleaner for 4.9KD. I didn’t have anything I needed to get so paid full price.

Would I recommend it? I mean if you’re a sneakerhead it might be worth getting to add to your collection of cleaning tools, but if you’re getting it with expectations that it’s going to clean your sneakers better, it won’t. If you want one, here is the link.

Categories
Sneakers

Clean Kicks – Pickup and Delivery Service

Clean Kicks, the dedicated sneaker cleaning and customization shop in Shuwaikh now has a pickup and delivery service. The biggest issue I had with the place was the location which had major traffic and never any parking.

Their pickup and delivery service costs 2KD for each direction or 4KD for a round trip and it’s for up to 5 pairs of sneakers. That means you can have them pickup 5 pairs of sneakers and drop them off to you when done for a total of 4KD.

To arrange for pickup you can DM them on their Instagram account @cleankicks.kw or whatsapp them on +96567721222. For a list of their services and prices, click here.

Categories
Sneakers

Clean Your Kicks

There is a new dedicated sneaker cleaning place that opened up in Shuwaikh called “Clean Kicks”. They can clean, restore and even customize your sneakers. Their prices start at 5.5 KD for a wash but can climb a lot higher depending on what you want them to do. I took a photo of their menu and you can check it here.

If you want to drop by your sneakers to them, they’re located in Lilly Center in Shuwaikh. They’re kinda tucked away in the alleyway behind the building so the easiest way to find it is by walking towards Circuit Plus since they’re right past their entrance. Here is the location on Google Maps and they’re also on Instagram @cleankicks.kw

Categories
Fashion Shopping Sneakers Sports

New Nike Outlet

If you’ve been to Al-Rai area recently you might have noticed a Nike store that was under construction next to True Value. The construction work is now complete and the store is officially open, turns out it’s their new outlet location.

The Nike outlet is two floors, the ground floor for men and the top floor for women. They had a ton of stuff for sale and all heavily discounted. I was hoping to find some cool Metcons for sale but ended up finding only one color combo which I didn’t like but you might find something you like.

If you want to check the place out they’re open 10AM to 10PM on weekdays and 10AM to 11PM on weekends. Here is the location on Google Maps.

Categories
Sneakers

Get Sneaker Insurance

With all the sneaker craze that’s been happening in Kuwait over the past couple of years this was bound to eventually happen. A local business called VOGULARITY is now offering insurance for your sneakers.

They don’t have much information up other than the fact that the insurance includes up to 100% cashback, and full cleaning service. They also don’t have their prices listed since it will vary from sneaker to sneaker. But I guess if you have an expensive pair of sneakers and want to insure it, these guys are probably your only option in Kuwait.

For more info here is the link.

Categories
Sneakers

Where do you Clean your Sneakers?

My friends and I are looking for a good place to get sneakers cleaned. Previously we used to use the service KLEAN but they’re no longer around. Delicates in Salmiya clean sneakers but they’re also super expensive charging KD15 per pair compared to the KD2.750 KLEAN used to charge.

If you have any recommendations let me know in the comments.

Categories
Information Sneakers

Racism at a Yeezy Sneakers Launch

Over the weekend the new Yeezy sneakers launched around the world including in Kuwait. People lined up from early morning for the chance to buy a pair since they’re a limited release and would sell out quickly. I saw some pictures and videos of the lines around Kuwait and they were extremely long and mostly unorganized.

That same morning a reader emailed me about an incident that took place at the Adidas store in Al Hamra and since then I’ve heard the story from one other person who was in line and seen a video that kinda corroborates it. Here is the email I received:

Hey Mark,

I wanted to let you know about this incident that took place at the Adidas outlet this morning.
So today was the launch of this limited edition Yeezy and I was at Hamra mall branch. They said it’ll be first come first serve. There were about 6 Philippine Nationals lined up at like 6am, they were the first ones there. A paper was passed down the line with the name and preferred sizes of people and it seemed completely civilized.

Then at 830am when the doors were supposed to open, a Kuwaiti Adidas representative announced in Arabic that Kuwaitis get priority. And a bunch of Kuwaiti guys rushed in front of the Filipinos and it was utter chaos. Then when one of the Filipino men spoke up and asked “what about us?” The Adidas rep was like “Filipino want to buy shoes?” And everyone started laughing.

And then a bunch of Kuwaiti guys proceeded to walk inside the store.

A woman (Arab) then started shouting at the Adidas representative and was saying that this is straight up racism and unfair. She was ignored. The Filipino group left and some guys just kept mocking them. An overwhelming majority of the Kuwaiti crowd joined in on the mocking. They waited for 2.5 hours to be disgraced like that.

There is a video that was taken that morning which you can watch [Here]

The incident is currently being investigated by the mall as well as the local Adidas dealer so if you were in line that morning and saw what happened, get in touch.

If you’re wondering how people could be so racist in 2019, so was I until I started getting hate on twitter when I posted about this. I actually had to block a bunch of people who were accusing me of hating on Kuwait or who were rationalizing why they were right to sell to the Kuwaitis first. It’s shocking.

Update: I’ve closed the post for commenting, also I’ve been made aware the photo of the Yeezys I posted aren’t the ones people were lining up for.

Categories
Fashion Sneakers

Sole Lab Sneaker Store

Sole Lab is a new sneaker store that opened up a couple of months ago. It’s a small shop that is aiming to make unique and limited sneakers more accessible in the local market. I dropped by yesterday to check the place out and although I didn’t pick up anything, they did have a few good looking sneakers especially the women ones.

The shop is located in Tilal Complex in Shuwaikh and they’re currently in a soft opening phase so open from 2PM to 10PM. Whenever they get new sneakers they post them on their instagram account so follow them @solelabkw to stay updated on their collection.

Categories
Events Sneakers

Walk This Way Tonight

A video posted by TQ (@kickstq) on

For the sneakerheads in Kuwait, there is an interactive exhibition showcasing some of the most iconic sneakers to be referenced in hip-hop music taking place tonight at the Visual Therapy Gallery. The exhibit is called “Walk This Way” and features local sneakerhead @KicksTQ and music by DJ Bonita.

The exhibition is from 6 to 9PM and it’s only taking place today, after that its gone. I’ll probably be there the whole three hours as well so drop by, check it out and say hi. For more info including a map of the location, click [Here]

Update: Turns out the event is till Saturday.