09.09.2026

Inside the Adidas x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Vanda Bloom Launch @ Singapore

An F1 car and a Mercedes-AMG GT Coupé took over Orchard Road for two days as adidas and Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS launched the Vanda Bloom Collection, drawing 200,000 fans and BABYMONSTER to Singapore's most iconic street.

Photos courtesy of Adidas.

 

Words: GC Editorial Team

 

For two days at the end of August, Orchard Road in Singapore carry both character and commerce. Singapore's most storied shopping stretch was closed to traffic and opened instead to something it had not seen in over a decade: a live Formula 1 race car, drifting and howling down a 600-metre run between Paragon and TANGS. The occasion was adidas Orchard Ignition, a takeover built around the launch of the Adidas x Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Vanda Bloom Collection, and it drew an estimated 200,000 people across the two days.

What made the moment worth GC's attention was not the scale of the crowd, but the intent behind it. This was a collaboration engineered to say something about Singapore itself, using the language of motorsport to do it.

A Collection Rooted in the National Flower

The Vanda Bloom Collection takes its name and its palette from the Vanda Miss Joaquim, Singapore's national flower and, fittingly, a hybrid bred from resilience and adaptation. That symbolism carries through the capsule. Across driver's caps, shorts, tees, and fanwear, the collection reinterprets the orchid's pink and purple tones with a restrained floral graphic, while the team's signature teal is etched into shoulders, collars, and cuffs. The result reads less like fan merchandise and more like a considered study in identity: motorsport precision on one side, Singaporean craft on the other, meeting in the middle.

The collection's showstopping vessel was the all-new Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé, which made its Asia debut on Orchard Road wrapped in a Singapore-exclusive Vanda Bloom livery. Paired alongside it was the Mercedes F1 W04, driven for the occasion by team reserve driver Fred Vesti.

Two Days, Two Registers

The takeover unfolded across two distinct chapters. The first day belonged to craft and access. A pop-up outside adidas Brand Centre Orchard, styled after track-side garages, drew over 40,000 fans for a Guided Garage Tour led by Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS technicians, the same team responsible for preparing the car fans would later watch tear down Orchard Road. Vesti made select appearances throughout.

The second day belonged to spectacle. Over 160,000 fans lined the temporary street track as Vesti opened proceedings in the Mercedes F1 W04, mixing high-speed straights with the kind of doughnuts that turn a demo run into a memory. From there, the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Coupé took over for a series of Hot Laps, streamed live to audiences both on-site and online.

The evening closed at Design Orchard's rooftop amphitheatre, where the adidas Orchard Ignition Fan Festival brought performances from Benjamin Kheng, Iman Fandi (one of the Singaporean faces of the Vanda Bloom campaign), and a high-energy set from KIARA. Giveaways throughout the night included Vanda Bloom pieces signed by the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS drivers, a fitting close to a weekend built on the overlap of motorsport and design.

Why This Matters Beyond the Confetti

For Adidas South East Asia, the takeover was framed as a statement of intent. Thibault Durand, the brand's Senior Vice President and General Manager for the region, noted that the response reinforced Singapore's standing as a destination for world-class lifestyle experiences. It is a fair read. Few cities would offer up a 600-metre stretch of their most recognisable shopping district for a motorsport demo, and fewer still could pair that with K-pop, live music, and a genuine design narrative without the whole thing feeling like a stunt.

Fred Vesti, for his part, seemed to feel the weight of the occasion too, calling it one of the best experiences of his career and confirming he plans to return in Vanda Bloom kit for the Singapore Grand Prix itself in a few weeks' time.

The Road Ahead

Adidas Orchard Ignition was staged under the banner of Grand Prix Season Singapore, the broader programme of nightlife, dining, and entertainment that surrounds the city-state's Formula 1 weekend each year. As a preview, it did its job well: it gave Singapore's most recognisable street a temporary second life as a circuit, and gave the Vanda Bloom Collection a launch that matched the ambition behind its design.

For GC, it is also a marker on the calendar. The Singapore Grand Prix itself is next, and if this warm-up is any indication, the Vanda Bloom Collection will not be the only thing making an appearance under the lights of Marina Bay.

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