The Adidas Originals by Alexander Wang Text-to-Buy Event Is Here

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In a follow-up to their first collab this past winter, Alexander Wang and Adidas Originals released their second unisex collaboration today. While the last one was inspired by street vendors, this collection is apparently inspired by the streets in a different way: “Season 2 fuses two disparate experiences — raving and cycling — to present the story of a tribe of New York bike messengers,” according to the press release from both brands.

A teaser video of the collection pushing that whole narrative dropped earlier this week, which you can watch here. The full collection, which includes leggings, a onesie, short and long-sleeved T-shirts, sweatshirts, shorts, sneakers, and a three-stripe balaclava, can be seen on the Alexander Wang website as well as in the Instagram post below. But the whole bike-raver thing doesn’t stop at the clothes, or the ad campaign.

Starting this morning, posters appeared around New York City with coded line sheets and the number to text — psst, it’s 917-512-7715 — to buy pieces via text. When I texted early this afternoon, I got an instant reply from an in-character chatbot: “Where’d u get this number? Are u in front of the posters? Txt me item codes of what u want.” I wasn’t in front of a poster, so I tried just asking for the sweatpants. My chatbot was not having it, so I used the only code I could make out from an Instagram post, CV5051, for a neon long-sleeved T-shirt. No dice there either. “Sorry that’s gone. That color went fast. I got it in a different color tho. What about black? I know I got at least one left.”

Once I said ok and picked a size, my chatbot informed me that he or she could deliver it in person on Monday, but only in Manhattan or Brooklyn. (“Nowhere else!”) I didn’t go through with the checkout, but according to reps from the brands, all orders will in fact be delivered on Monday by bike messengers dressed up in the collection — and I’d guess also in character.

If you’re trying to get your hands on something, you can head over to Clarkson and Greenwich Street in New York, where posters showing the full catalogue are pasted, or scope social media like I did, where customers will hopefully be sharing more information.

The collection will become available worldwide on August 5th with select retail partners, presumably Adidas Originals and Alexander Wang’s typical roster of stores. (The last collection was sold at seven shops around the world — Barneys, Paris’s Colette, Italy’s Antonioli, Storm in Copenhagen, Dover Street Market in Ginza, Boon the Shop in Seoul, and Hong Kong’s Joyce — before becoming available online.) Stay tuned for more info, and check out some of the key pieces below.