A$AP Rocky and Mercedes-Benz’s apparel collection will be here sooner than you might have thought. Unfortunately, though, it turns out the reflective nylon bomber jacket and high-vis pants Rocky previewed earlier this week are nowhere to be seen.
Fashion Killa kills fashion —
The two collaborators have opted to focus on loungewear silhouettes, including sweatpants, hoodies, long sleeve t-shirts, and hats. There are arguably enough sweatsuit sets in the world, but maybe the rapper is preparing for and embracing a long life of dad fits as he and Rihanna prepare for parenthood.
The apparel is set on a blasé color palette of black and white, accented by hits of light blue, red, and highlighter yellow. Mercedes-Benz and A$AP Rocky’s AWGE creative agency both give healthy doses of branding with mirroring signature logos. While a bomber jacket does make an appearance in the campaign, this one’s in a slick black and the zipper pull is adorned with a metal AWGE logo.
PacSun will be co-hosting the release, as Rocky joined the team in 2021 as its first-ever guest artistic director. This collection marks their fourth project and the second collaboration between the pair and a third-party brand since Rocky took up the role. AWGE’s inner workings are kept pretty close to the chest, but this could spark more collaborations in the future.
A long history with Benz —
Though his relationship with Mercedes stems back to 2016, Rocky expressed in the press release that he hoped for the collection to “echo my original sentiments of creating premium products based off my love for nostalgia and heritage brands that are accessible at different price points.” The $150 sweatpants and $75 snapbacks listed on the site aren’t exactly accessible, but in comparison to an actual Mercedes-Benz, a technicality may win out.
Mercedes-Benz’s perpetual presence in hip-hop made Rocky’s own use of Benzes in his music videos natural, including the 2016 visual for “Gunz n Butter.” A$AP Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, was named after and often influenced by American rapper Rakim, who was attached to the brand as well, posing in front of the cars for his and Eric B’s 1988 Follow The Leader photoshoot. It would’ve been nice to see more of this nostalgia and heritage come through in the merch, but you can’t win every battle.
Pre-orders for the collection are available through PacSun’s and AWGE’s sites, and an in-store Pacsun release will follow in May. Janis Joplin may have asked the Lord to buy her a Mercedes Benz, but certain hypebeasts will probably be asking Him for this A$AP Rocky collection instead.
