Swap & Gawp - Streething & Sole Obsession Swapmeet

When you hear the word ‘swapmeet’, the first thing that comes to mind are nerds and geeks. I guess most of us tend to relate it to computer swap meets, where individuals get together on the weekends trading and/or selling computer parts and programs.

There are many different types of swap meets, not just for computers. Cars, antiques, comics, toys…you name it. One of the more popular ones today is the sneaker swap meet. Yes, we are nerds and geeks too… just like you!

If you are a sneakerhead and you live in Melbourne, you would have been to a number of Sneaker Freaker swap meets held annually, where heads can turn up with parts of their collection to sell or swap with hundreds of other heads. In a way it brings the community together and it’s a great excuse to make a day of it – Y’know, beers and snags on the barbie.

Well, I was lucky enough to be invited to DJ at the latest (and quite possibly the most extravagant) swap meet to be held in KL, Malaysia earlier this month. The ‘Swap & Gawp’ swap meet, which was the brainchild of Streething (Malaysia) and Sole Obsession (Singapore), and was held in KL’s number one nightclub, ZOUK. Some how or another, the organisers managed to get hold of the main room of the club on a Saturday night to hold the event.

Considering the scale of this event, it was absolutely free to get in. Raffle tickets were sold on the door and these tickets were a chance for you to score the so many giveaways by the generous sponsors. Plus, every ticket purchased came with a showbag filled with tees, stickers, vouchers and God knows what else… so pretty much everyone went home with something.

Giveaways on the night included a dozen pairs of sneakers from Nike (including a pair of Jordan 1 ‘Old Love, New Love’s!!!). New Balance came to the show as well with a bunch of current releases and a couple pairs of Japanese exclusives. And that was just the shoes. I was behind the decks for most of the night, but from what I saw, about 100 tees were given away, a few skateboards and who knows what else.

There was also a large mezzanine floor at this club which they used as a kinda ‘exhibition’ space for some of the rarest and most hyped shoes known to man. On display was pretty much every Jordan produced, some of the hardest to get SB’s, Dunks and AF1’s and a whole bunch of NB’s, courtesy of NB Asia Pacific. There really is no need for any explanation. Just take a good look at the pictures.

Now, this swap meet was a little different to the ones we have in Melbourne, but I can assure you that the vibe is pretty much the same. All the heads were cool and everyone was into it. The scene in Malaysia/Singapore is thriving at the moment, much credit to crews like Streething and Sole Obsession who put in so much love and effort into getting South East Asia on the sneaker map.

Many props to all those who attended and even more props to those involved in organising the event. That night I felt really proud to be a Malaysian and involved in the sneaker scene. It is probably the biggest event of this sort that the region has seen and hopefully it won’t be the last.

Not much more I can say, just check out the pictures.

Here are a list of the sponsors that put time, money and effort to make it happen…
ZOUK KL
JUICE Magazine
B53
New Balance
Leftfoot
Nike Malaysia
Adidas Malaysia
Tiger Beer
Limited Edition Singapore
Sportsland
Sneaker Freaker
Boundlezz
Dope Distribution
Aesthetic Lab
HDLN
Stabs
Kiks Tyo