DINK, a premium court-sport lifestyle brand born on Dubai’s pickleball courts, launches its first collection at dink.ae on 1 November 2026, shipping worldwide from Dubai. The brand introduced itself on 18 October 2026 with a packed friends and family soft launch at Picklers in Dubai, where its first retail shelf is now open.
Co-founders Rashed Yakhlef and Faiq Al Ismaili are airline captains who met as the youngest recruits of their time in cadet training and are now building DINK between rotations. Both play at Picklers most weeks. They started the brand because the sportswear they found was built for performance or for looks, and rarely for both. Throughout the journey, they have been guided and mentored by hospitality veteran and CEO of Atelier Hospitality Panchali Mahendra, a pickleball enthusiast herself, whose industry expertise has played an instrumental role in shaping the concept.
The collection covers performance and lifestyle apparel, paddles and accessories, designed to hold up at the net and carry into the office, the school run and the airport. Its roots are in pickleball; the same pieces are cut for padel and tennis, and for days with no court at all. The women’s line, including the Courtline Legging and DINK Sports Bra, is designed in the UAE and meticulously tested by athletes and non-athletes alike. DINK makes its full men’s apparel line and its tote bags in the UAE, with full UAE production as the stated goal.
“Pickleball in the Gulf grew faster than the gear did,” said Rashed Yakhlef, Co-Founder of DINK. “We kept showing up in kit made for the gym or for brunch, and none of it felt like it came from here. DINK is what we wanted to wear at the kitchen line and still be wearing at dinner.”
“The soft launch at Picklers showed us what we hoped: people here want gear that feels like theirs,” said Faiq Al Ismaili, Co-Founder of DINK. “From 1 November, anyone can wear it, wherever they play, or don’t.”
Before its retail launch, DINK served as Official Clothing Sponsor of Team South Africa at the 2026 Pickleball World Cup in Da Nang, Vietnam, the brand’s first kit on an international court. It has since signed its first official athlete, Abdul Hafiz Karime, the number one ranked player in the UAE, DINK also outfits the Picklers staff and coaching team. A programme of community events, including evening open play, runs through the first quarter of 2027, with regional expansion planned from 2027.
The launch collection is priced from AED 40 to AED 749. The Dink Daddy Pro 1, DINK’s first paddle, the Dink daddy pro 1 pairs a Toray T700 carbon fibre face with a 14 mm thermoformed core and retails at AED 749. DINK is available now at Picklers, Dubai, and online at dink.ae from 1 November.
