AWGE SS26: A$AP Rocky’s Myth-Making Machine Rolls into Paris

In Paris, where the runway calendar is already overflowing with narratives of nostalgia, neo-romance, and new-age tailoring, A$AP Rocky’s AWGE Spring/Summer 2026 show felt like a glitch in the system—intentional, chaotic, and deeply self-aware. Set inside the Palais de Tokyo but performed like a late-night fever dream, Rocky’s sophomore runway outing didn’t aim to make sense. It aimed to stick.

Titled American Sabotage, the collection unfurled as a visual manifesto—part cultural commentary, part fashion fan fiction. It was less about seasonal product and more about cultural positioning. Think anti-establishment slogans, stars and stripes turned inside-out, military jackets clashed with boxing robes, denim beaten down and then re-sculpted. At its best, it felt like Jean-Michel Basquiat met WWE meets a Harlem stoop in 2005.

This wasn’t just a runway—it was a theatrical collision of timelines. A$AP Nast opened the show with a megaphone. The front row—thick with stars like Rihanna, Pusha T, and Tyler, The Creator—felt more like a cipher than a seating chart. Models wore gas masks. One look featured a shredded American flag fashioned into a cape. Another, a tuxedo jacket held together by nothing but pins and pins of meaning.

The silhouettes were erratic on purpose. Wide-legged trousers dragged across checkerboard floors, military belts wrapped twice around shredded basketball shorts, and cropped varsity jackets revealed mesh tank tops underneath. This wasn’t cohesion—it was collage. A zine disguised as a clothing line. Punk sensibility wrapped in post-internet styling.

AWGE isn’t building a brand; it’s staging a rebellion. With collaborators like designer Bede Marchand and longtime stylist Matthew Henson, the label leans less into fashion’s traditional arc and more into performance, mood, and meme logic. This season’s message? America is broken, but we still know how to dress for the fallout.

The finale was pure Rocky: he emerged in a patchwork flag robe, rapping into the mic mid-stride, before disappearing into a cloud of applause and fog. No press notes. No explanations. Just a reminder that sometimes fashion is best understood through distortion.

AWGE SS26 doesn’t ask for approval. It asks if you’re still paying attention.