Drama Call don’t do quiet launches. Last night outside Old Trafford, the Manchester streetwear brand parked up their vans, threw open the doors and let crowds swarm for first dibs on their new adidas × Manchester United collection. No red carpets or polished storefronts – just a stripped-back, chaotic buzz that’s become their trademark.
The pop-up mirrored previous Drama drops where they’ve kept things deliberately rough round the edges. Gear stacked in the back of vans, queues forming in minutes, fans trading stories and snapping photos in the shadow of the stadium.
The centrepiece of this latest capsule is a nod to 1991, the year United lifted the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. A crisp white reworked replica jersey, connecting one of the club’s iconic shirts with the city’s current streetwear flagbearers. Alongside it: a retro track jacket, half-zip, hoodie, pants, tees, headwear and even a football, each piece stamped with a blend of adidas Originals insignia, the United crest and Drama branding.
For those who missed the pop-up last night, the full range officially lands today across the adidas Confirmed app, United stores, select adidas retailers including Manchester Market Street and DramaCall.com. But history says you’ll need to move quick – Drama drops have form for selling out quick.
This isn’t the first time the trio have come together. Back in 2023, Drama reimagined United’s 1988 away jersey, plastering their star motif up the side and pushing football nostalgia through a streetwear lens. Earlier this year they ran the Metrolink-inspired Superstar II “Drama” sneakers, teal accents and all, which turned city trams into cult footwear. Each collab has blurred football and fashion with a distinctly Mancunian spin.
The club itself is leaning all in. United players will arrive at Old Trafford kitted out in the new collection before Saturday’s match against Burnley, with adidas and Drama Call branding spread across the stadium to cement the link-up in front of tens of thousands. Campaign imagery has already seen Lenny Yoro, Casemiro, and club legend Bryan Robson shot in the warehouse alongside local faces, while rapper Aitch fronts the lookbook – another nod to the brand’s city-first, culture-heavy DNA.
adidas are tapping into a Manchester energy that feels real, one built by a brand that started in 2017 flogging tees to mates and is now co-signing with one of the biggest clubs in the world. “United isn’t just a football club to us – it’s part of our DNA,” Drama Call said this week. And when you watch hundreds pile towards a van outside Old Trafford for a t-shirt, it’s hard to argue.
The 1991 kit might be the official headline, but the real story is in the queues, the chaos, and the way a local label has turned its community into a movement that global players like adidas and Manchester United can’t afford to ignore.
