Subtlety was not an option at Rolling Loud 2023, where Rocky wore some quietly insane new jeans as part of an outfit that included pearl-laden Louis Vuitton sunglasses and an "AMERICAN SABOTAGE"-branded trompe l'oeil body armor T-shirt.
On-stage, Rocky looked pretty typical. Well, typical for Rocky, at least. You certainly wouldn't think that his pants were wearing pants that were wearing pants that were wearing pants.
But behold: as laid out in a subsequent Instagram post, A$AP Rocky's pants had layers. Six layers, to be precise.
A$AP Rocky's sextuple-stacked trousers feature no less than four pairs of boxer shorts and two layers of faded denim jeans, made luxe by a crystalline "AWGE" that accents the back pocket.
They actually look to be assembled from vintage denim pants, though it could also be a totally custom job going off the "AWGE"-emblazoned red tab and denim arcuates. Those are Levi's references but not Levi's parts. However, the other jeans sprouting from Rocky's jeans have Dickies buttons so who knows?
Anyways, ever thought, "Boy, it's too easy to wash my boxers separate from my jeans — what if I was forced to clean them simultaneously?"
If so, what's wrong with you? But, then, A$AP Rocky's new jeans have your name all over 'em.
That being said, these pants are likely not going to see wider release — AWGE, Rocky's enigmatic art collective, typically only sells collaborations or one-off merch — but they do remind me of two Balenciaga pieces that were once very available: the seven-layer parka and "sagging" sweatpants that kicked up controversy in 2021.
For A$AP Rocky, though these high-concept pants are just another stylistic high point.
Funky statement piece worn so effortlessly that the complete outfit blends into a mélange of aspirational confidence — that's how A$AP Rocky wears clothes. He makes incredibly out-there stuff look quite wearable and that's a bonafide skill.
Amazingly enough, Rocky's stacked AWGE jeans weren't the main event during his Rolling Loud set.
On-stage, Rocky seemingly issued a stealth diss to rapper Travis Scott and Ian Connor, the quietly well-connected fashion hustler who boasts no less than two dozen accusations of sexual assault (Connor was separately jailed in 2019 for gun charges).
A purported post-set text exchange uploaded to one of Connor's Instagram pages showed Rocky seemingly bending the knee to keep Connor happy. It quickly went viral, likely because it's so bizarre.
Why would the world's luckiest man care about what an alleged sex pest thinks? No one currently online seems to know.
Rocky's Instagram comments mirror the reactions on Twitter.
"Don't let Ian da rapist talk to u [sic] like dat," one user bellowed in all-caps. "Why’d you let Ian Connor press u [sic] lil bro," asked another.
It's a strange enough case to steal the thunder from Rocky's six-layered jeans and that's saying something.
