CHALHOUB GROUP’S WEB3 SNEAKER BRAND SOL3MATES REVEALS ITS FIRST NFT COLLECTION AND LAUNCHES “SIROCCO 1” SNEAKER
SOL3MATES, Chalhoub Group’s web3-native sneaker brand, revealed its first NFT collection “SOL3MATES OG NFTs”. Only 10,000 NFTs will be available at 0.03 ETH (approx. 55 USD) on 4th of May 2023 for a limited time only. Purchasers of the collection become members of the SOL3MATES community and receive exclusive membership benefits such as early access to future collections, preferred pricing, free merchandise, and more. The NFT will be available for purchase on the luxury NFT marketplace Exclusible.
SOL3MATES OG NFT holders will receive priority access to the first limited edition sneaker drop from SOL3MATES – “Sirocco 1” designed in collaboration with French designer KACIMI LATAMÈNE, renowned on social media for his viral sneaker designs. Sirocco 1, which is inspired by the Mediterranean wind, will be available for pre-order from September 2023 with delivery expected by year end. The maximum supply will be equal to the number of unique OG NFT owners to ensure exclusivity and avoid over-production. NFT owners will experience preferred pricing and delivery ahead of the public.
“We are a sneaker brand first, and an NFT project second,” says Nick Vinckier, Head of Corporate Innovation at Chalhoub Group and Founder of SOL3MATES. “Our aim is to create the sneaker brand of the future, born from web3 technology and mechanics such as gamification, community, and decentralization. The entire customer journey is created in such a way where we merge the best of the virtual and physical experience. With the launch of our first collection, and all future collections, our focus is on adding value to our community over time.”
The NFT pre-sale starts 4th of May for a selected audience. The public sale starts on the 5th of May and will last 48 hours (or until supply lasts).
The SOL3MATES’ community NFT consists of 10,000 NFT’s at a price of 0.03 ETH (equivalent to approx. US$55). While owners of the SOL3MATES OG NFT will get first access to pre-order the sneakers at a preferred rate of USD240, the public will be able to pre-order Sirocco 1 at USD320 in case there are any pairs left. The SOL3MATES OG NFT community also receives free shipping worldwide, priority delivery one month ahead of the public and the virtual wearable to wear in the metaverse immediately after pre-ordering.
Each SOL3MATES sneaker will be equipped with an NFC tag linking the physical shoe with blockchain-enabled authentication to track the sneaker ownership and providing more product information to the end user.
KACIMI LATAMÈNE, French sneaker designer and the first talent to collaborate with SOL3MATES, said: “SOL3MATES’ philosophy is based on a foundation of community-centricity and future-forward thinking, which puts the brand in a strong position to lead this segment in the Phygital world. I look forward to sharing Sirocco 1 with the sneaker community and positively disrupt the sneaker industry.”
The brand’s first sneaker will be available for pre-order early September, but NFT owners can expect membership perks immediately after the end of the NFT sales. The SOL3MATES community will get access to rare sneaker giveaways, hype sneakers at retail, free SOL3MATES merchandise, meetups and much more.
SOL3MATES is also actively growing its event, retailer and brand partnerships to increase benefits for its NFT collection owners. For example, with this collection launch, 1,110 lucky NFT owners living in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will be able to upgrade to Sapphire-tier membership of MUSE, Chalhoub Group’s loyalty programme.
After launching Sirocco 1, SOL3MATES will release different colorways of the Sirocco sneaker, co-created with the NFT community, and a new sneaker silhouette created by KACIMI LATAMÈNE. Additionally, SOL3MATES aims to announce a second designer collaboration by the end of next year, in coordination with their community. To mint the NFTs, interested parties can visit exclusible.com. For more information, interested parties can visit SOL3MATES.xyz.
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ABOUT CHALHOUB GROUP
For over six decades, Chalhoub Group has been a partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. The Group, in its endeavour to excel as a hybrid retailer, has reinforced its distribution and marketing services with a portfolio of eight owned brands and over 300 international brands in the luxury, beauty, fashion, and art de vivre categories. More recently, the Group expanded its expertise into new categories of luxury watches, jewellery, and eyewear.
Every step at Chalhoub Group is taken with the customer at heart. Be it constantly reinventing itself or focusing on innovation to provide luxury experiences at over 750+ experiential retail stores, online and through mobile apps, each touch point leads to delighting the customer.
Today, Chalhoub Group stands for 14,000 skilled and talented professionals across seven countries, whose cohesive efforts have resulted in the Group being ranked third in the Middle East and first in Saudi Arabia as a Great Place to Work®.
To keep the innovation journey going, the Group has set up “The Greenhouse”, which is not just an innovation hub, but also an incubator space and accelerator for start-ups and small businesses in the region and internationally. This is just one of the several initiatives taken by the Group to reinvent itself, catalysed by forward thinking and future proofing. The Group has also been embedding sustainability at the core of its business strategy with a clear commitment towards people, partners and the planet, and by being a member of the United Nations Global Compact Community and signatory of the Women’s Empowerment Principles.
ABOUT SOL3MATES
SOL3MATES – a merge of “soulmates of the sole”, with the “3” referring to web3 – is Chalhoub Group’s own web3-native sneaker brand, built on the foundation of community-centricity and future-forward thinking. The brand is designed to connect designers and sneakerheads directly with the use of NFTS, as well as to create an immersive and engaging experience by involving its community members in all aspects of the brand-building journey.
SOL3MATES’ sneaker collections are all designed as limited editions, in collaboration with upcoming sneaker designers from across the globe, who function as the creative directors of the sneaker collections. The brand guarantees exclusivity while simultaneously avoiding waste, and to push the boundaries of innovation, creativity, and storytelling while empowering global sneaker designers to positively disrupt the sneaker industry.
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