I was at the London pop-up that went wrong — people were passing out around me

A teenager has described how he felt ‘crushed’ and ‘couldn’t breathe’ at a crowded clothing giveaway in London which descended into chaos.

Thousands of people gathered in Carnaby Street following a marketing stunt by two streetwear brands popular on Instagram and TikTok on Saturday.

The pop-up, a collaboration between brands Up In Flames and Poser, only revealed its exact location on Saturday morning.

But within minutes thousands of people had crowded around the small van handing out free clothes, creating a crush which led to some people passing out or crying.

Archie McNicol, 16, has been to similar pop-up events before and decided to try his luck at getting hold of some free clothing.

But he told Metro this was ‘one of the worst’ he’s ever seen as the crowds grew bigger and more raucous, reacting to police officers trying to diffuse the situation by chanting ‘f*** the feds’.

‘There were thousands of people coming down Carnaby Street and pushing into each other,’ Archie said.

‘I was maybe 5metres away from the van and I was crushed, I couldn’t move, people were panicking and lots of people were passed out by the side.

‘I even heard fireworks going off, I didn’t see anyone setting them off but I heard bangs, there were people throwing their shoes and chucking water bottles.

‘About five minutes in, police got on top of the van and tried to disperse it, but the brand’s main image is “f*** the feds” so when people are trying to get free clothes and the police are trying to stop it, it became complete chaos.

‘At first I thought it was normal, but when I realised I couldn’t get out of the crowd and couldn’t breathe it was pretty scary. I tried to push past people to get out and couldn’t move them.

‘Once I got out I was fine, but I saw people crying and quite visibly upset.’

Archie decided to try and get out of the way once the chanting began, and saw customers in nearby shops trapped inside because they couldn’t open the doors.

He saw several people who didn’t seem to know anything about the free clothes giveaway, but had been drawn in by the huge crowd and wanted to find out what was going on.

The situation became more chaotic after police arrived, with Archie claiming officers left at least one police car unlocked near the crowds.

‘Police left their cars and about four or five kids decided to get on top, they got in the car and took helmets and jackets and set off the sirens,’ he said.