Behind the Barbed Wire on Oxford Street

Fashion launch parties have a formula so reliable you could write it in your sleep. Somewhere in London—in this case, a warehouse hidden behind barbed wire and a steel door somewhere off Oxford Street—you put a collection of influencers and fashion people in a room, hand them Cîroc cocktails and Budweiser bottles, book some DJs, and wait for the selfie-with-Kendall frenzy to begin.

The occasion was the Adidas Originals collection designed by New Yorker Olivia Oblanc and Kendall Jenner. Months in the making, it produced something genuinely street-ready—colorful, functional, the kind of pieces that work both as fashion objects and actual clothes you might wear while doing something physical. Kendall mentioned the oversized puffer jacket as her favorite, apparently planning to snowboard in it. That rare thing: a fashion item that isn’t embarrassed by utility.

When people asked me which brand I’d most want to collaborate with, I always said Adidas, Olivia said, and you can feel that conviction in the clothes themselves—nothing here looks designed by committee or focus-grouped into blandness.

The guest list was the usual London constellation: Munroe Bergdorf, Maya Jama, Novelist, Wilson Oryema, Bee Beardsworth, Louis Simonon, Snoochie Shy. Lexi Andrews, Pxssy Palace, Illustrious One, and Ciesay handled the sets; Lava La Rue performed. Everyone tried to get a selfie with Kendall. Everyone always tries to get a selfie with Kendall.

Berlin has the same dynamic, honestly. Different accents, same hustle. Whether that’s a comfort or a disappointment probably depends on where you’re standing in the room.