A$AP Rocky started this year with a bang, shortly after releasing Don’t Be Dumb, his fourth studio album, he proceeded to dominate the zeitgeist and the runways in more ways than one. In addition to high-profile ambassador gigs for capital “F” fashion houses like Bottega Veneta and Chanel (where former Bottega designer Matthieu Blazy has since taken the reins and reinvigorated the French couturier), Rocky also debuted the third collection for his burgeoning AWGE fashion line.

Showing the collection at New York Fashion Week in February 2026, the looks featured plenty of collaborative gear from Puma, with whom Rocky has had a creative partnership with since October 2023. Originally starting as the creative director of its long-running Formula 1 program—where he reinvented silhouettes like the Speedcat and Mostro—the legendary mind-meld has since revved up into something much bigger.

And while there were plenty of automotive-inspired looks and freakboulish footwear on display, one of the best looks of the collection channeled multiple eras of uncanny aura. Part 2000s-era Pharrell, with hints of the bright skater style pioneered by Rocky’s close friend Tyler, The Creator, a look pairing a Superman-blue zip hoodie with exaggerated cargos was finished with a low-key pair of sneakers: the humble Puma Suede.

But it wasn’t your run-of-the-mill Suede release, rather, one that had gone through the nuances of a AWGE vibe transplant. While Rocky himself has never skated, there’s always been a mutual appreciation between the self-policing culture of very opinionated skaters and the very tasteful Harlem artist. His earlier songs, many of which created surreal, haunting soundscapes with producer Clams Casino, ended up in the soundtrack of multiple skate videos.

Turns out that many of his tracks are the perfect background for so many legendary parts. Can you imagine a better synergy than seeing Chewy Cannon body some absolutely clean lines in the Palace Skateboards “Tres Trill” video while A$AP Rocky’s aptly-named, atmospheric “Palace” is on full blast? Truly, how real is this?

Likewise, seeing the entirety of the DGK team get introduced on “Blood Money” to the tune of “1 Train” really evokes the spirit of some real New York shit, channeling the gritty street skating the city is known for developing while treating viewers to an insane edit. Woogie’s part starting right during Kendrick Lamar’s verse is a thing of beauty.

Despite his status as a non-skater, there have been plenty of times that Rocky has let his admiration for skate culture shine through. In the past he’s done projects with iconic skaters, and taken inspiration from different aesthetic eras of skate style for his own outfits and his burgeoning AWGE fashion line. But the latest iteration comes in the form of the Puma Suede ‘94, a year synonymous with the peak of Mad Dog-swilling, Marlboro Red-smoking, schwag joint-rolling dirtbag skaters.

Over on Lafayette Street, a little brand called Supreme was just opening its doors before SoHo was a shopping mall, and filmmaker Larry Clark was shooting teenagers like Chloe Sevigny and Leo Fitzpatrick to make seminal coming-of-age flick Kids.

The Puma Suede ‘94 reflects that attitude and then some. The tongue features a raw edge and padding for extra reinforcement, while the OG slimmer tooling shape, longer toe vamp, and era-accurate logos keep it as true to the original as ever. But of course, it wouldn’t be an AWGE shoe without the nuanced nods like the gold dubrae (a nod to Harlem hip-hop’s tendency for bling), and the slightly thicker laces that also nod to ‘80s style.

All of these references aren’t lost on A$AP Rocky, in fact, they’re intentional. It’s a way for him to put wha he sees as one of New York City’s signature sneaker back in the forefront.

Taking something as iconic as a Suede is big, it’s a shoe with big connotations in places like Harlem. Was it a sneaker you were familiar with growing up?

A$AP Rocky: I got my first pair of Puma Suedes in 2009, but of course was always aware of Puma. I think they were biggest in the ‘80s—I was born late ‘80s—but it’s always been an iconic shoe.

You grew up in uptown New York, where Harlem and The Bronx shaped modern sneaker culture. What’s Puma’s place been in that conversation?

Puma has always been heavy in NYC culture. There’s the Puma Suede and its affiliation with Walt Fraizer, who’s a Knicks legend.

In some ways skating and sneakers are places where culture has melted together and united seemingly different communities, how have you seen the barriers between different worlds continue to break down?

Skateboarding has always been something that lived in counterculture. And all of these different cultures connect there through sneakers. From record store folks, skateboard folks, street folks, basketball folks, musicians, and rappers—we all connect through sneaker culture.

What’s it like working with Puma as a partner? What would be the dream shoe to make?

They’re great. They always entertain my wild ideas. We do everything from skateboarding, to racing, and everything in between.

To take things a bit further, on Sunday July 12 HIDDEN will be giving out a limited number of pairs of the Puma x A$AP Rocky Suede ‘94.

Channeling the vibe of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and its “Secret Tape” scavenger hunt, stay tuned to IG stories to see where a few pairs will be dropped, and get the chance to be on the early flow team ahead of the sneaker’s release on July 16.

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In January 1986, Michael Green published the book Zen & The Art of the Macintosh: Discoveries on the Path to Computer Enlightenment. It has since become a cult classic, and copies of the rare tome can still fetch a hefty price.

The book itself was entirely created on the MacPaint program, an early precursor and very rudimentary digital art tool that predates its PC counterpart, Microsoft Paint, by a year. Even more impressive, the increasingly complex graphics and layout, which has the aesthetic of evolved ASCII art, was turned into a book via printing through a Macintosh LaserWriter .

The book was further honored with the “Desktop Publisher of the Year” award in the January 1987 issue of MacUser magazine. Who called it an “unusual book” but also a “tour de force of MacPaint technique.” The award was presented to Green by none other than Steve Jobs himself.

Its pages juxtapose forward-thinking graphic design with inspiring notions about creativity and layouts that toe the line between an edgy, independent zine and the kind of avant-garde design aesthetics favored by tasteful types today.

Green’s seminal tome turns 40 this year, and it has inspired the story behind the Tokyo pop-up between HIDDEN and ASICS. Titled “Zen and the Art of Movement,” the shop takes place this weekend, May 23-24, from 12 noon until 7 p.m. each day.

The shop is located in the SO1 venue in Shibuya, and not only features ultra-exclusive items, but an interactive exhibit featuring various Macintosh items, including a 1986 copy of Zen & The Art of the Macintosh, as well as the MacUser magazine award the book won.

What’s more, HIDDEN is republishing a small run of the rare book, allowing attendees to bring home the cult classic and appreciate it themselves. The release coincides with the equally limited HIDDEN x ASICS GEL-KINETIC™ 2.0, inspired by the original Macintosh computer used by Michael Green while creating Zen & The Art of the Macintosh.

Limited to 200 pairs, the predominantly neutral color palette pulls from the soft grays, aged ivories, and subtle brown tones synonymous with early Macintosh hardware, informing the upper’s mesh, overlays, sole, and custom packaging.

Other key details on the shoe like the graphic insoles and knowing visual nods to both ASICS and Michael Green’s revolutionary computer art inform the uniform and aesthetic of the pop-up, with plenty more easter eggs to discover in-person, should you be in Tokyo.

HIDDEN x ASICS “Zen and the Art of Movement” Tokyo Pop-Up
May 23–24
12:00–19:00
SO1 Gallery
6-14-15 Jingumae, Shibuya
Tokyo 150-0001, Japan

The collaborative capsule collection between A Bathing Ape and HIDDEN is available now. Mixing up the pioneering Japanese-born streetwear label’s greatest hits with some deep cuts for the real heads, it’s a celebration of the brand’s history and HIDDEN’s longtime appreciation for the label’s rich lore.

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When NIGO first started teasing his Nike collaboration a few years ago on the runways of his KENZO shows, heads immediately assumed that he’d basically be making what BAPE should have been all along—legit Nike Air Force 1s done up in candy-colored patent leather.

And while we did get the latter in the form of NIGO’s first Air Force 3, a silhouette he revisited time and again in a multi-chapter sneaker story, the reactions to the shoe were mixed. It wasn’t what fans wanted, but rather what NIGO wanted to put out there. Turns out some things are truly worth the wait.

This weekend marks the release of the LO 2 Air Force 1, a patent leather blue and white sneaker that coincides with the opening of NIGO’s latest exhibit in London. True to his “real heads know” collector’s mindset, it’s not just any Air Force 1. He specifically uses the narrower 2001 silhouette, going as far as changing up the shoebox to one indicative of the era.

The narrower toebox and sleeker shape reflects a connoisseur’s eye for sneakers—if the Air Force 3 was NIGO putting people onto a silhouette he felt was underrated, his resurrection of the OG-approved “ideal” AF1 model reinforces his status as your favorite collector’s favorite collector. And it almost makes the anticipation of the long-awaited release worth it.

Coincidentally, it also marks another historic collaboration—one between HIDDEN and BAPE, the brand NIGO famously founded and then sold to IT Group in 2013. It’s no secret that the label and NIGO have been hugely influential to the entire HIDDEN ethos, both from an aesthetic perspective to the HIDDEN.NY avatar quite literally being NOWHERE, the pioneering Ura-Harajuku shop co-founded by NIGO and Jun Takahashi.

Known as the birthplace of both UNDERCOVER and BAPE, its legacy continues to be felt in the eminently shoppable backstreets of Harajuku and Shibuya, where NOWHERE’s successors range from Supreme to multi-brand shop Studious, and of course NIGO’s latest label, HUMAN MADE.

The meeting of the minds between BAPE and HIDDEN symbolizes a passing of the torch of sorts. Taking the label’s signature camo and graphics and infusing HIDDEN’s signature green motif, even the iconic BAPEsta sneaker is reimagined with minimal colored uppers accented with 3M details, and a more retro shape akin to NIGO’s own beloved 2001 Air Force 1s.

The fact that both sneakers are releasing within days of each other is a coincidence that could only be written by fate.

The legacy of Jun Takahashi and NIGO’s “Last Orgy 2” lives on in the platform that HIDDEN has become. The Asayan magazine article was a way for the two tastemakers to put curious Japanese youth onto emerging movements, new trends, up-and-coming brands, and the latest and greatest in the burgeoning worlds of sneakers and streetwear.

Now with over a million followers, it’s safe to say HIDDEN has become a modern version of that, making curation and bringing subculture to the forefront of pop culture a modern discipline. The dedication to consistent posting and desire to dominate the algorithm in a very honed way is a testament to just how locked in the account is. It has built a following and developed a unique aesthetic, growing its community without sacricificing its identity.

And really, that’s what is monumental about these dovetailing sneakers. It’s an unintentional pairing that makes too much sense. There is definitely a certain crossover of heads raised by the internet that will feel extremely salty if they happen to miss out on both releases.

At least for the HIDDEN x BAPE release, paid members can get a better chance at early access and the exclusive sneakers that will surely sell out. But if you wanted more proof at how cyclical trends are… just ask yourself when was the last time you got this excited for an Air Force 1?

There’s a certain class of sneaker collector who insists on keeping the boxes. As the culture around collecting them has evolved, some parts of the mythology still ring true. The image of a Nike shoebox full of money remains embedded in the collective digital consciousness of people who grew up reading blogs and forums like NikeTalk.

The notion of keeping your money secure in an orange-tinged box rather than the confines of an unseen bank account remains a hood staple. Meanwhile, the proliferation of Container Store drop-front shoeboxes signifies the rise of a new kind of sneakerhead.

It’s a more casual consumer that doesn’t have that NIGO-like obsession and rapid recall of what box holds which shoe, or the in-house archivist mindset to think to put a picture as a means of organizing a massive collection , realizing that the box is in fact as important as the product in it. Why else would people pay so much attention to tissue paper or document the ways in which Nike shoebox color schemes have evolved?

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Towards the mid-1980s and early-1990s, Japanese manga and anime adopted a cleaner, more minimal look. Countless illustrations portrayed women in a more fashion-forward way, coquettish but somewhere between kawaii and demure.

Looking back now, it’s ripe for reinterpretation by a big fashion house for a campaign, or at least a modern homage by an artist. Like many things reinterpreted and given an elevated twist by the Japanese, when it comes to one artist who seems to be source code, it points to a person who was inspired by the American pop art movement of the 1960s.

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There’s a beauty in executing something relatively simple in a novel way. It’s been a guiding ethos from influential designers like Dieter Rams, and reflected in modern icons of design like Apple, Braun, and Eames. It’s no secret that it’s also been a big inspiration for the HIDDEN design language.

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Perfecting the existing isn’t about reinventing the whee…

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It’s known that Yohji Yamamoto has a bit of a thing for cars. In the past he’s dabbled in supercar collabs, and in a well-loved short film he’s waxed nostalgic about his daily driver, comparing his own car to a girlfriend where the relationship is equal parts about appreciating what you have and developing a real bond that matures over time.

Now, Yamamoto’s Y-3 is taking that enthusiasm to the grid with a partnership with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 team. The accompanying campaign features drivers George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, but also includes a surprise appearance from F1 legend Toto Wolff, the team’s CEO. The visuals convey the dynamic partnership in way that reflects what make F1 beautiful—the striking moments of calm during the constant chaos of a Grand Prix.

The collection brings back a striking Wolf motif, inspired by Japanese mythology and originally from adidas’ F50 Tunit cleats from 2006. Representing a mythical guardian in the animal kingdom who symbolizes speed, instinct, and bravery, here it also doubles as a sly nod to the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS drivers and the man leading them.

Sticking to Yamamoto’s signature black-and-white color palette, the capsule collection also features a print inspired by smoke billowing from the team’s race cars and other graphic iterations of the wolf, toeing the line between racing gear, football kits, and the unique relationship between Yamamoto and adidas. Further, the collection will be on full display on the grid when it gets worn at the legendary Suzuka circuit during the Japanese Grand Prix later this month.

Wolff recently discussed the partnership in an interview with GQ, speaking to the ways in which the German sportswear giant has at least more than a few things in common with the well-oiled machine that a successful F1 team has to be.

“I think the collection captures both sides of who we are. It feels modern but also refined—there is a simplicity and sharpness that mirrors the way we operate as a team,” says Wolff to GQ. “There’s an energy that comes from being connected to a brand with such a strong identity, and it has translated into a renewed confidence around the paddock and, most importantly, onto the racetrack.”

Funnily enough, Wolff even downplays the coincidence between the prominent Wolf graphic in the collection and his own last name. Pointing out the reference to the 2006 F50 Tunit while nothing that “the jacket is very stylish though and embodies exactly who we are as a team.”

He does add that Mercedes-AMG Petronas is in good company, noting that Y-3 has only collaborated with two other global sports teams in the past: the Japanese national football team and Real Madrid. Being the only F1 team to work with the brand and the iconic designer behind it certainly puts them in great company.

Rounding out the capsule collection is a series of driving sneakers, completing the look from head-to-toe. The Y-3 x Mercedes-AMG Petronas collection arrives on March 19.

In January 2013, Raf Simons’ eponymous menswear line was still going strong. He was only beginning to hit his stride as the creative director of Christian Dior (a time very well-covered in the documentary Dior and I, which you can check out after the paywall).

After making a big splash in the world of fashion with a capital “F,” he then made one of his biggest contributions to the gray area where sportswear, sneakers, streetwear, and high fashion all converge.

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When most people romanticize what the sound of late-’70s and early-’80s Japan was, a lot of them will revert to city pop, the bustling genre of music made popular by digital algorithms. And while that particular genre did generate its fair share of hits and inimitable visuals (for example: It instantly calls to mind the art of Hisashi Eguchi), lately another genre has been coming back to the forefront.

In 1976, guitarist Issei Noro and bassist Tetsuo Sakurai began the first iteration of a band that would become known as Casiopea. The name is pronounced like the constellation Cassiopeia, but spelled differently due to the English version being pulled from Japanese book on constellations with a different translation.

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When Thom Browne sent his latest collection down the runway during this year’s Super Bowl weekend at a special San Francisco show staged by GQ, the designer’s Fall/Winter 2026 collection finished with a surprise. During the finale, models walked out wearing Browne’s upcoming collaboration with Asics.

Consisting of three monotone colorways of the Gel Kayano 14, some models wore them on their feet while others had them accessorized around their outfits, perhaps a cheeky homage to one of the most prominent Jordan shoots of all time.

But it didn’t take long for the photos to do their viral thing. Although many announced it was the first time Thom Browne had done a sneaker collaboration, that’s technically incorrect. Back in 2009, highly influential Parisian boutique colette tapped Browne to design an extremely limited pair of Converse Jack Purcell sneakers.

The upper consisted entirely of Browne’s signature grosgrain RWB ribbon, crisscrossed in a patchwork pattern. However, with an asking price of $1,800—a lot especially by 2009 standards—they remained out of reach for most people. Given that the Thom Browne Kayano 14s are expected to retail around $400 when they come out, that’s a comparative bargain.

But speaking of American designers collaborating with sneaker brands, it’s worth mentioning that one of the more anticipated comebacks of New York Fashion Week is a design duo who all but pioneered mixing streetwear, sneaker culture, and runway fashion.

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This weekend marks the launch of the HIDDEN Hardware Boot and Tasman in collaboration with UGG. The pop-up shop and projection mapping experience starts Friday, February 6 at Extra Butter at 125 Orchard Street in New York City.

Both shoes will release online and at the pop-up on Friday February 6th at 3 PM EST/12 PM PST/8 PM GMT. To celebrate the partnership, HIDDEN has teamed up with four esteemed creative pioneers to reinterpret the collaboration through the lens of their respective practice.

Extremely limited to just five pairs per style, the handmade interpretations toe the line between objets d’art and wearable subcultural artifacts. Here’s a bit about each creative collaborator.

The Hardware Boot by STFUyoutalk2much

STFUyoutalk2much, aka Omi is a mononymous artist from The Bronx who came into prominence as part of the LES creative community. Heavily involved in scenes like the multidisciplinary shop LAAMS, Omi is known for his murals and painting that toes the line between surrealism, pop culture parodies, and old-school airbrush bootlegs. Omi’s take on the HIDDEN Hardware Boot embodies that appeal, applying a signature green airbrush graphic on the upper.

The Hardware Boot By Peter Sutherland

Born in 1976 in Ann Arbor, MI, artist Peter Sutherland once described his work to the team at storied fashion label Dries Van Noten as a “chaotic celebration of life.” Known for his paintings of eerie, colorful landscapes and photographic juxtapositions between industrial imagery, sculptural geodes, and even stickered-out water bottles, Sutherland’s work is a constant interrogation of environments and striking color stories. Sutherland’s reinterpretation of the HIDDEN Hardware Boot combines all those sensibilities, giving the footwear a sculptural element.

The Tasman By JWStudios

Jakob Werner began his design career customizing footwear before evolving into a full-fledged studio. His previous work ranges from elegant adornments of adidas Football boots to an eye-catching collaboration with Japanese footwear label Mizuno on the “Kakishibu” MXR inspired by a traditional dyeing process using persimmons. JWStudios takes a similarly subtle approach to the HIDDEN Tasman, swapping out the sole for a thicker, darker substitution and a darker, vintaged treatment to the suede upper.

The Tasman By Kozaburo

Born in Tokyo, Kozaburo Akasaka originally studied philosophy before honing his craft in menswear and fashion design at the prestigious Central Saint Martins and Parsons School of Design. That landed up a job for Thom Browne, where he learned the ropes during the brand’s most formative and impactful years of subverting traditional menswear. He launched his Kozaburo label in 2011, with an emphasis on melding Japanese craft and philosophy with Western silhouettes, especially focusing on mixing techiques like sakiori weaving and sashiko stitching with denim.

For the Kozaburo x HIDDEN Tasman, Akasaka pays homage to the Japanese philosophy of “mottainai,” a term expressing regret over wasting things. Using repurposed materials and treatments as accents to the shoe, it gains a second life.

The Hardware Boot By Kozaburo

Not to be outdone with one silhouette, Kozaburo Akasaka also applies his talents to the HIDDEN Hardware Boot. Applying a vintaged wash treatment to the soles, Akasaka adds a rugged contrast flannel fabric to the upper, finished with details like turquoise studs, fringe finishes, and industrial staples that give the boots the same Frankenstein appeal of his Travis Scott-approved mash-up dad caps made from different headwear.

Everything exciting about menswear seems to be coming from Japan. It’s no secret that the country that perfected streetwear and Americana is back in the forefront of compulsive shoppers’ minds. While mainstays like Visvim and Sacai continue to deliver bangers, a new crop of brands has emerged and stood out not through creating flashy logos or consistently collaborating with some of the buzziest brands in the game, but doing something novel: Creating nice clothes.

The past couple of years has seen labels like Ryota Iwai’s Auralee and Kazuma Shigematsu’s A. Presse quickly gain steam among menswear dudes and longtime Japanese brand enthusiasts like Chris Gibbs, who recently did an exclusive capsule collection with them for UNION Los Angeles.

But there’s a whole other world of Japanese brands worth checking out, some of which remain relatively under the radar.

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One of the hardest things about digging for vintage designer and luxury gear is the amount of licensed goods that got made in the 1980s and 1990s. As menswear brands like Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren began to take off, luxury brands like Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent sought to get in on the action.

In addition to launching their first menswear lines, many of them also sought the quick and easy route of licensing their names to existing suit manufacturers, who would put out ready-made product in custom fabrics with different labels. This is also why you’ll still find some old Ralph Lauren suits branded with cheaper sub-lines like “Lauren By Ralph Lauren.”

That practice didn’t just extend to suiting, but also other categories like outerwear. On the flipside, certain outerwear companies were also starting to see the potential in courting up-and-coming fashion designers, wanting to get more relevance in the space, sought their talents and brought them on as consultants.

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A little over 2 years ago, the HIDDEN NY Discord community launched, and has since become an important, self-sustaining part of the overall HIDDEN discourse, showing how much the reach of the community has grown.

As we reflect on an amazing year, it’s worth highlighting what the community has deemed their top sneakers of 2025. It has a lot of crossover with the overall zeitgeist in the sneaker conversation, especially when it comes to the love given to Nigel Sylvester, who arguably dropped some of the year’s best collaborations and 100% deserves all the flowers he’s currently getting.

It also rightly gives props to Joe Freshgoods’ consistent ability to create compelling New Balance collaborations, and unsurprisingly rates Tom Sachs’ newest Nike iteration up there too. But what was surprising was the variety of shoes when it came to honorable mentions and nods to newness.

The Yu-Gi-Oh! Air Maxes remain one of the year’s most surprising and unexpectedly good releases, especially with the inclusion of trading cards and regional exclusives. Former Dior footwear designer Thibo Denis (currently at Louis Vuitton) also deserves praise for stepping outside of the box with his new collaboration with Birkenstock, combining his penchant for outdoor style with a fun, chunky upper.

And while the HIDDEN Discord continues to discuss the year’s best releases, HIDDEN has compiled a list of personal favorites too. Feel free to discuss in the chat…

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Not all anime and manga are created equal. While there are plenty that create fantastical worlds and focus on compelling stories and epic fight scenes that can drag on for multiple episodes, there also exists an entirely different genre of stories that do one thing really well: Nerd out on a niche interest.

The manga-ka Shinichi Ishizuka is known for two works that do that exceptionally well, and their subject matter couldn’t be further removed from each other. Born in 1971, Ishizuka began his higher education at the Japanese campus of Southern Illinois University, eventually moving to the United States to attend its main campus. He later transferred to San Jose State university, where he studied meteorology.

It was here that a fellow Japanese friend had admitted to him that one of the main reasons he had chosen to major in archeology was because he had read Naoki Urasawa’s Master Keaton, a manga that was later adapted into an anime that could be described as a mixture of Indiana Jones and Lupin the Third. It showed him that telling a powerful story could profoundly impact people’s lives, and sparked a desire to create something just as potent.

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