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The Week in Shopping: Xs, Rated

As a frothed-over Nike x Palace linkup arrives this week, it’s time to check in on fashion’s love-hate relationship with collabs. In a world where the novelty has largely worn off, are all these eye-rolling brand marriages still worth it? (When each side gets something out of it, yes.)

nike crystal palace collab
The Palace x Nike drop perfectly encapsulates the strategic transactionality of the modern collab era: Palace, the British skateboard brand, is trading its subcultural cachet for Nike’s global distribution, while Nike borrows Palace’s credibility in soccer and skate circles. Photo: Courtesy of Palace
Sarah Shapiro
October 31, 2025

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Have collaborations become cultural white noise? This week alone saw the drops of Palace x Nike, Wales Bonner x Adidas, Anna Sui x Old Navy and Abercrombie x Kemo Sabe, and H&M x Glenn Martens. While the best collabs still generate creative tension, the insistent promises of “special synergy” often elicit eye rolls from fashion’s increasingly savvy shoppers. As legacy houses become more dependent on outside validation, are collabs just a cynical marketing move to prove they’re doing something to stay relevant?