Inside A$AP Rocky’s Debut Fashion Show, Where Everyone Dressed Like A$AP Rocky

A$AP ROCKY’S AMERICAN SABOTAGE is a pretty unusual name for a fashion show. Then again, when is A$AP Rocky ever usual?

Even the presentation of Rocky’s first-ever fashion show was a wild ride. Its livestream was hosted simultaneously on YouTube, Twitter/X and the website for AWGE, the mysterious collective overseen by Rocky, and it didn’t work properly on most of them.

But that’s showbiz. Everyone’s gotta expect some shenanigans with their first runway show.

And it is crazy that Rocky is only just now getting into the fashion show game. This is A$AP Rocky, remember, he of many Bottega Veneta ads (both real and implied), endlessly excellent outfits and two (or three?!) born-to-be cool kids by way of Rihanna.

Rocky’s swag will never be for sale but his clothes sure will be.

And they actually were, back in April. That was when Rocky debuted AWGE’s first ready-to-wear collection, swapping out conventional merch for conceptual shirts and $600 jeans. The usual? Rocky would never.

But that drop, still available on AWGE’s web store, was only a taste of what’s to come.

Before a disparate crowd that included Rihanna, Pusha T, Michèle Lamy, LOEWE designer JW Anderson and LVMH scion Alexandre Arnault, Rocky’s debut fashion show was as much a performance as a showcase for garments.

Outside the venue — which just so happened to be Karl Lagerfeld’s house, a timely selection what with all of today’s Chanel rumors — AWGE assembled a group of bustling “protestors” clutching signs reading “DON’T BE DUMB,” the alleged title of Rocky’s much-awaited next album.

It wasn’t much more peaceful inside.

Once the show got going, music began blasting, including a song reported to be the first public taste of Don’t Be Dumb.

Speeding models were clad in suits — some with shirt and tie, some with low-rise skirts à la Miu Miu — billowing T-shirts, heavily-layered tank tops and baggy jeans, their hair beaded with pearls or swept under a bright bandana. Some even wore a flannel “shirt” around their waist.

In essence, they were dressed very much like A$AP Rocky himself. Well, a more theatrical version of Rocky.

Outré statement pieces made the distinction. Amidst nearly destroyed T-shirts and banners worn as dresses, a trompe l’oeil “wet” T-shirt floated in front of the body, leaving the back bare. One skintight bodysuit was even stitched with illegible receipts and a glove that grasped the model’s neck.

Very Margiela, though Demna-era Vetements feels like a more apt comparison (remember that Demna cut his teeth at Martin’s Maison). But instead of semi-subtle storytelling, blunt political messaging ruled the day.

Katherine Hamnett-like slogans including “AMERICAN SABOTAGE” and “POLITICAL SATIRE” were large and in charge, gracing deconstructed bomber jackets and bulletproof vest-printed tees. One model wore an NYPD sweatshirt.

“Harrisburg, Pennsylvania” was a recurring motif, perhaps an homage to the city’s relevance in the American Civil War or Underground Railroad, which would complement a print of “1865,” the year that America ratified the Thirteenth Amendment that ostensibly abolished slavery throughout the country.

These are thematic threads that demand further tugging to grasp Rocky’s intent.

Is “American Sabotage,” sometimes printed over President Bill Clinton’s face, a summation of systemic inequality? Are the NYPD logo and gun-shaped cake references to police brutality, gun violence, both, more? Do the consistent use of camouflage and balaclavas call out to ongoing international protests?

Rocky popped out after the show wearing a bomber jacket printed with his own mugshot, a tangible reminder that the clothes must be both statements and stylish. And the clothes were very stylish indeed.