Loomhood Collection
Role: Strategy Lead
The Quick Pitch
How can adidas Originals reconnect its globally iconic Samba and Spezial shoes with the streets and communities of the Middle East?
By collaborating with artisans across Dubai, Riyadh and Cairo to weave the stories of their neighbourhoods into the most overlooked part of a sneaker: its laces.
What I did
Lead on strategic approach and cultural narrative
Identify neighborhoods and craftspeople across UAE, KSA, Egypt
Identify and manage relationship with Zay Initiative for cultural validation
Onboard and manage relationship with Dream Girl Tailors
Brainstorm on sneaker designs and conduct durability tests on laces
Comms rollout plan
Social content ideation (teaser, launch, interviews with craftspeople)
Manage Dream Girl Tailors Pop-up
Assist in UAE production
Assist in press kit ideation
Assist in retail store activation
Assist in press release and outreach to Dubai Tourism
Pitch amplification ideas
Co-wrote case study paper
Co-wrote case study video
Revelation
adidas Sambas were winning over trend-led audiences, but culturally savvy consumers were looking for meaning beyond the mainstream.
In a post-sneaker hype world, celebrity drops and fast trends were no longer enough. People wanted meaning, not just merch, especially culturally savvy audiences in the Middle East who remained underserved despite their growing influence.
Building with neighbourhoods and craftspeople
Instead of relying on easily marketable names, adidas Originals flipped the model by partnering with neighborhoods and its artisans. This was not just a creative decision, but a strategic shift in who holds cultural authorship. By placing underrepresented makers at the center, the campaign became more grounded, authentic, and resonant.
The strategy moved from brand-led tribute to community-led storytelling, embedding local culture into every detail from product to rollout.
Our three strategic pillars:
· Co-creating with the community across design, storytelling, and validation
· Bringing IFYKYK cultural cues to resonate locally
· Showing up in touchpoints where local culture is lived and shared
Provocation
What if the communities that shaped street culture could reshape adidas’ most iconic shoes?
Idea
A limited-edition collection that wove the craftsmanship of three neighbourhoods into global streetwear icons.
adidas Originals partnered directly with artisans in Al Fahidi, Diriyah and El-Khayamiya to reinterpret the Samba OG and Handball Spezial through their traditional textile crafts.
Instead of redesigning the entire shoe, we focused on one of its simplest and most expressive elements: the lace.
Custom laces were created using patterns inspired by Emirati Talli, Saudi Sadu and Egyptian Khayamiyah, allowing people to carry a piece of their neighbourhood wherever they walked.
Each pair was stamped with the neighbourhood’s name and the precise coordinates of the artisans behind it, directing attention back to the people and places that made the collection possible.
Cultural expert Dr. Reem El Mutwalli and The Zay Initiative were consulted to help ensure every interpretation treated the traditions with accuracy and respect.
CRAFT
We worked with local artisans across all three cities:
Dream Girl Tailors in Al Fahidi, drawing from the metallic detailing of Talli.
Rashidah in Diriyah, translating the bold geometry of Sadu weaving.
Mohsen in El-Khayamiya, inspired by the layered patterns of Khayamiyah appliqué.
Rather than treating them as suppliers, the campaign celebrated them as creative partners. Their names, work and neighbourhoods became central to the story of the collection.
FILM
The campaign film travelled through Dubai, Riyadh and Cairo, placing each shoe within the streets, workshops and communities that inspired it.
It brought together heritage and contemporary streetwear without presenting culture as something frozen in the past.
The people preserving these crafts were positioned not as remnants of history, but as original creators whose influence continues to shape culture today.
EXPERIENCE
The collection launched through an experiential and digital campaign across the three cities.
In Dubai, adidas transformed the 40-year-old Dream Girl Tailors in Al Fahidi into an exclusive two-day sneaker pop-up taking the launch out of a conventional fashion space and returning it to the neighbourhood where the story began.
Further activations took place at adidas Originals stores in Dubai and Riyadh, alongside Maison 69 in Cairo. Customers purchasing a Samba OG or Handball Spezial received complimentary Loomhood customisation and limited-edition laces inspired by their city.
Impact
From global streetwear icons to local cultural artefacts.
The Loomhood Collection became adidas Originals’ highest-engaging regional campaign of the first half of 2025.
It reached over 10.7 million people, generated more than 646,000 engagements, and drove a 600% increase in Samba and Spezial sales in Saudi Arabia.
The collection was featured by titles including GQ Middle East, Campaign Middle East and Condé Nast Traveller Middle East, helping carry the artisans’ stories beyond their neighbourhoods and into regional fashion culture.
The shoes were later added to The Zay Initiative’s cultural archive, preserving the collaboration as part of the region’s evolving design history.
The campaign also won Gold for Best Partnership Campaign at the 2025 Athar Awards, recognising a collaboration in which culture was valued not merely as inspiration, but as authorship.
For the artisans and communities behind it, the campaign brought real recognition.
Their names were credited, their stories shared, and their legacy compensated fairly, not as suppliers, but as creative partners. Beyond the campaign, the visibility sparked new inquiries and footfall, giving their craft a stronger voice in a space where tradition often struggles to be seen.
Credits
Joshua Lim - Group Creative Director
Marrwan ElHussein - Senior Art Director
Neil White - Senior Copywriter
Viztoni Chin - Content creator
Amit Hasija - Head of Production
Tayyab Qureshi - Producer
Reynan Ortega - Production assistant
Pradeep Bhusal - Production assistant
Islam Momtaz - Director of Photography
Mohammad Shanableh - Senior Account Director
Tala Majed - Account Director
Vylan Dalmaida - Strategy Director
Chirag Khushalani - Senior Strategist