A$AP Rocky’s latest link up with PUMA is about the culture. Taking it back to a time when Jazz music was called “Jungle” and the Cotton Club on 142nd Street and Lenox Av, New York City was the place where young musicians fought to be seen, Rocky’s collaboration is all about his heritage as an artist and a guy who grew up in the vibrancy of Harlem’s streets.
Taking direct inspiration from the names who characterised the Harlem jazz renaissance and the opulence of their fits, Rocky’s PUMA collection offers ready-to-wear, footwear, and accessories that play on the bold textures, iconic mis-matching, and disruptive styling of the era, all with a Flacko twist. This time around, the PUMA Inhale and Mostro OG return with an animal-inspired upgrade, and we see a new classic -the Mostro Gabbia- debuted, a sneaker built with a removable cage.
We linked up with A$AP Rocky to find out what his largest collaboration with PUMA yet, and his first that features a mix of styles for all genders is all about. Keep reading to find out.
The collection’s inspired by Harlem and Jungle Music – can you share any personal experiences tied to either that inspired you?
“Where I’m from, there was this club called the Cotton Club, and they would host jazz musicians at the time. [Back then] they didn’t refer to the genre as Jazz; they called it Jungle Music. So we just wanted to pay homage and take something that was originally supposed to be derogatory and negative, and flip it into a positive.”
Are there any specific figures or artists who inspired this collection?
“I would say people like Cab Calloway, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington. Those guys inspired this.”
Do you have a favourite piece in the collection?
“Man, I don’t [have a favourite piece] but I really love the fur trench – that fur coat is amazing.”
Can you point out any details that fans might not notice at first glance?
“Yes, we had a lot of attention to detail. For instance, these right here,” he holds up a sneaker from the collection, “are pony skin mixed with python. We wanted to put those together because it’s mismatching, right? My whole prerogative is the mismatch. I’m the best dressed mismatcher known to life, right? So I wanted to manifest that whole theory in the collection, especially in the shoes and the [contrast of] different prints with each other.”
There’s a lot of animal prints like snakeskin and faux fur in the designs – is there a particular root of inspiration behind that?
“[In the collection] I tell a story about how Harlem was developed. At first, it was mostly people who lived in what we know now as Central Park. [Back then] it was called Seneca Village, and you know, after they got ran out of Seneca Village, everybody went to Harlem. It was a bunch of millionaires living in brownstones and a lot of wealthy black African American people living in this certain region of New York City, Manhattan, the Upper Side. They embodied a certain tradition of opulence and ghetto fabulousness and extravagance and flamboyance. I think that kind of shaped me in my experiences growing up in Harlem, and I wanted to manifest that into the collection.”
Where would you imagine someone would wear this collection?
“You could wear it in the back of a luxury car. You could wear it to church. You could wear it to pick up your children from school. You could wear it to school. You could wear it to work, you could work in it. You could take it off. You could actually not wear it all, you could preserve it. I would highly recommend that. I want to make clothes that don’t have any obligations. Your freedom is the rebellion. That’s what I like about this collection: it’s just like, you’re free to do as you please. It’s very diverse, very versatile.”
If you could style anyone in this collection, who would it be?
“I love when my girl wears my clothes.”
We already know AWGE shows are iconic, with really immersive show spaces. If you hosted a fashion show for this collection, what would that look like?
“It would look like the Cotton Club, and we would pay homage by having those jazz bands performing and stuff like that. Maybe I might holler at some of my friends [to make the soundtrack]. I would definitely holler at Jon Batiste and have him come through and do something, because that’s my guy right there. Leon Bridges. My new album pays homage to some jazz, too.”
My last question is, what’s your vibe for 2026?
“I don’t know yet. Hopefully, I’m alive, healthy, and happy. But the vibe for 2026? You’re gonna have to wait and see, sis.”
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