When A$AP Rocky turned up at J.W.Anderson's London Collections: Men's fall '16 show earlier this year, the fashion world was pretty into it: He wore head-to-toe J.W.A. and those fur-lined Gucci loafers, making for quite the street-style moment. There was clearly more to the story of that buzzy front row cameo, though. Evidently, it marked the beginning of a blossoming friendship between the British designer and American rapper, and now, they're taking to the next level creatively. The duo just announced a capsule collection launching this week.
Of course, this isn't Fashion Killa A$AP Rocky's first turn as designer: He's worked with Raf Simons, Adidas Originals and Jeremy Scott, and, most recently, Guess Originals. At a launch party for the latter project in February, the rapper told us that while he's long been an admirer of fashion, he's not necessarily eyeing a career change, he's simply taking advantage of his connections in the industry.
The rapper's appreciation of Jonathan Anderson's work runs deep: He first publicized his interest in the British designer when he wore logo'd J.W.A. on tour and in his music video for "Jukebox Joints " back in 2015. The admiration was clearly mutual, and has now manifested itself in a new project titled JWA AWGE. A$AP is tight-lipped about the acronym's meaning, according to the New York Times — not even Anderson knows exactly what it stands for. When asked to elaborate, the rapper responded in a very Fight Club manner: "The first rule of AWGE is don’t ask questions about AWGE," later adding that the meaning is on a need-to-know basis, but that "no one needs to know what the letters stand for."
The collaboration, which is currently available for pre-order on J.W.Anderson's website, consists of men's casualwear, including teddy-like faux fur jackets, knitted beanies and knitted tracksuits. With prices ranging from $275 to $1,300, per the Times, it's a very high-end turn for the rapper — one that'll surely have fashion crowd clamoring for a piece of A$AP and Anderson's pair-up.
Rocky is, of course, no stranger to high fashion, often citing his love for Goyard, Prada, Jil Sander, et al in his lyrics, as well as being a fixture in the front row at many a fashion show. (Let's not forget his amazing lewk for Gucci's cruise '17 show.) He was at J.W.Anderson's LCM display in January, and we can safely bet Rocky will make an appearance at this weekend's London shows, wearing AWGE.
Despite the project's mysterious nature, Anderson, who serves as creative director of Loewe on top of designing his own line, was thrilled to work with the American performer. "It's always exciting to collaborate with creatives who wear J.W.Anderson," he said in a statement. "Rocky is an influential, modern artist who has a strong point of view on fashion." The admiration is mutual: "Jonathan is a designer that sticks to his own instincts and J.W. Anderson has a really unique aesthetic," Rocky said in a statement. "AWGE is built from the same principles, which is why this collaboration is a perfect fit together."
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