Three tries in, and Downtown Manhattan finally got the honors, hosting A$AP Rocky’s latest AWGE collection during New York Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2026. AWGE, the artist’s creative agency, still lives by its founding principles, “Rules: #1 Never reveal what AWGE means. #2 When in doubt always refer to rule #1.” Paris takes another hit.
The invitation led straight to 49 Chambers, former Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, once the biggest of its kind, still carried the weight of its ambition. Cold marble floors, soaring ceilings, and every corner dripping with institutional confidence set the stage, literally. And what do you do when you inherit that kind of space? Stage a runway and build the backstage right in the middle. Make-up stations, racks, hairstylists, and mirrors reflecting it all in plain sight so models could stop mid-walk for touch-ups. Every detail on display, basically within arm’s reach of Rihanna, A$AP Nast, Julia Fox, Evan Mock, and Wisdom Kaye.
The show started innocently enough with a cream leather shirt-dress hybrid, surprisingly digestible. Until you noticed the alarmingly long red nails, the coffee cup in hand, and Rocky’s face plastered on a dollar bill that was wrapped around it. Slowly, the memo clicked, practical, but urban enough. A triplet of looks followed shortly after, complete with big furry bags, ties, and baby carriers. Then came a splash of racing. First, a polo dress on Helen Lasichanh, Pharrell Williams’ wife, followed by jackets, gloves, cropped zip-ups, and leather slit skirts. Preppy Rocky appeared too, tailored suits, vests, coats, plaid, but everything still carried AWGE’s hip-hop DNA, making even what would be court-assigned pieces feel like they belonged in a music video.
Of course, the lineup made room for Rocky’s ongoing love affair with Puma, the Mostro 3.D Mule, the Mostro Lenticular, and the Rocky Straycat, all made appearances. But his affection for Ray-Ban was clear too, almost a year into his role as the brand’s first-ever creative director. And it showed, specifically through bags that could double as enormous sunglass cases, and pairs that carried both labels’ names. I’ll admit, the piece I kept coming back to wasn’t wearable. Not clothes, not shoes, not bags. It actually was a stroller. A stroller so meta, you half-expected Jimmy Neutron to be tucked inside.
Honestly, this was Rocky, in every sense. The New Yorker, the rapper, the dad, the businessman, the designer, the guest designer, the influenced. You didn’t just watch the show, you watched him, all of him, on one runway, simultaneously.
