SWSYchaos – by Jack Fifield
Two teenage boys have been arrested after a ‘pop-up’ clothing event led to chaos in middle of London’s bustling fashion district.
Youth brands ‘Up in Flames’ and ‘Poser’ had announced a ‘free pop up’ event in the city centre to take place on Saturday, February 22.
Hundreds of young teenagers turned up to the event – which had to be shut down by police after youths began to jump on and spray paint police cars while crowds chanted chant “f*** the feds”.
Police – including a helicopter unit – stormed to the clothing pop-up, which took place on Carnaby Street, Soho, London, just nine minutes after it started.
One attendee, who gave his name as George, said he witnessed members of the crowd pinning people to the floor and robbing them of clothing items they had received.
The 19-year-old said: “There were thousands of people – 14 to 18 year olds, there.
“The main owners of the event were running around throwing around clothes and stuff, to the point there were so many people.
“I think members of the public called the police on it. Originally there were only two police, they were telling everyone ‘you’ve got to go’.
“At that point, I go to the shops. I’m walking back and I see 14 to 15 police vans, and there were, I think about 100 police lined up in rows trying to force people out the area.
“It got to the point where they were on the other side of the street, so the crowd went to the opposite side.
“The police left all their stuff unattended, so they were all going in the police cars and police van, jumping on it and spray painting it.”
Video from the scene of the incident shows one young man wearing a police hat and jacket jumping on top of a cop car as crowds chant ‘f*** the feds’.
Products sold by clothing brand Poser include the ‘Baggyf***off’ joggers for £65 and ‘Cops and Robbers jeans’ for £60.
However, products by both Poser and Up In Flames are sold in time-limited ‘drops’, meaning they often sell out quickly – leading to products being resold for well over their original price on resale websites.
George added: “It was a pretty crazy sight, you don’t really expect that would happen over clothes.
“It’s not a protest over something, there’s no main goal. People were just doing it for the sake of doing it.”
Metropolitan Police confirmed that two teenage boys had been arrested on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle, criminal damage and affray.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Police were called at 12:09hrs on Saturday, 22 February following reports of a large crowd gathering in Soho in relation to an apparent marketing stunt that had been advertised online.
“During the incident, some of the crowd caused damage to an unattended police vehicle.
“Officers have since arrested two boys under the age of 16, on suspicion of theft from a motor vehicle, criminal damage and affray.
“They have been bailed whilst enquiries remain ongoing.
“A Section 35 Dispersal Order for the borough of Westminster was put in place throughout the evening and no further related issues were reported.”
Up in Flames and Poser have been contacted for comment.
