A rapper turned designer may easily be taken for a whim, but the industry has learned to hold back its verdict. Pharrell Williams and Tyler, the Creator, among others, have shown that some creative visions can deftly cross disciplines. A$AP Rocky, Chanel ambassador and creative director of Ray-Ban, became his own opening act for his sold-out Paris concert, with a massive fourth collection for his label AWGE. You thought it was merely merch? It was far better crafted, narrated, and staged.
Titled Anti War Global Economics, the collection deploys a sharply cut, weathered wardrobe ready for battle. How does one exist, cross a world on fire from all sides? A$AP Rocky and his team explored centuries of military uniforms, fed by harrowing headlines from the United States, Europe or the Middle East. The show astutely sidesteps any hollow activist or militant stance and offers instead what feels like a legit designer’s proposition for our times.
Around a monumental warship moored in the middle of the arena, the stands were filled with people who had simply bought a concert ticket and learned that very morning that they could attend a fashion show. The opening look is a clean beige trench fused with a navy quilted vest that reads as body armor.
Then come tactical vests, cargo trousers, bombers over suits and ties, flight caps, goggles, headsets, cartridge belts and utility pouches, with fuel cans carried as handbags. Navy sailor collars knotted over the shoulders answer the ship, and faces are streaked with camouflage paint. A burgundy leather cape, crowned with a gas mask, pushes a vintage stroller. These are people who adapt, who keep going through a world at war.
The materials carry the same worn, handled quality. Aged and lacquered leather, glossy patent, coated denim with an oily sheen, khaki and navy twill, satin-finished suiting, plaid flannel and camouflage prints sit beside fluorescent and sheer veils drawn over the face. Raw hems and flashes of orange lining show where a garment has been lived in. Even though AWGE remains a confidential label, far less known than its founder and sold in a handful of boutiques and online, it delivers a commanding take on fashion. At the finale, the models climb onto the deck while Rocky takes the highest point of the stern, overlooking his troops.
Then the Don’t Be Dumb Tour took over. The pit that had hosted the runway filled with unleashed fans, with A$AP Rocky perched on a helicopter and Tyler, the Creator joining him for two songs. On the way out, the merch stand left no doubt that these were not the clothes that had walked earlier. And yes, Rihanna was there, radiant as ever, but dropping her name into a headline or an article about this collection would be too easy a move, for it stands on its own.
