Fashion

Instagram’s Viral DIY Designer Released Rock Climbing-Themed Crocs

Nicole McLaughlin created John Mayer-approved Crocs….

McLaughlin has long been a bit of a celebrity in the Instagram design world since about 2017. The former Reebok sneaker designer got her viral start after she created slippers out of volleyballs and Carhartt scraps. “My Instagram is my brain exploded,” says McLaughlin. The images spread quickly. The shoes were the sort of off-kilter, made-you-look creations that rack up thousands of likes and adoring comments. Slowly, McLaughlin began to venture more into the more absurdist world of DIY creations, churning out clothing and furniture. Some of her most popular pieces are bras with cups fashioned out of lemon juicers that are, yes fully functional, vests made from packages of air fresheners, folding chairs from slices of Arcteryx garb, and even a pump with a golf club head as the heel. In one Instagram video, McLaughlin successfully hit a golf ball with her heel.

While the creations often leave the viewer asking, “why?”, people nonetheless ask McLaughlin how to buy them. “I’d get a lot of requests, or they’ll just send me their size and be like, ‘Oh, here’s my shipping address,’ says McLaughlin. Prior to Crocs, McLaughlin had never officially produced pieces but rather had made one-off items. The collaboration with Crocs came at the perfect time. A year ago, McLaughlin joined Foot Locker’s incubator program Greenhouse, a way to connect consumers with up-and-coming designers, who facilitated the collaboration with Crocs. “It was a dream because naturally the shape that I always use is like a slipper or a house shoe clog,” she says. For the collaboration, McLaughlin focused on making the shoe a bit more interactive. “There were options for a safer route, but I was like, ‘How far could I push Crocs to create something that’s my vision with their technical features?” McLaughlin, who describes herself as “outdoorsy”, made the Croc rock climbing- and camping-themed. In addition to storage pockets and bungee cords, the Crocs also come with sock-like booties made from chalk bags that come with a pouch in the back. “The wearer can customize it even further and put a candy bar or something under the bungee cord instead of the rope,” she says.

McLaughlin is not alone in the world of shoes having other purposes than walking. Similar multi-functional concepts have been slowly appearing in the footwear world. In recent years, Nike has churned out sandals with fanny packs, and Vivienne Westwood’s Asics collaboration has a mesh storage unit. The concept falls right into McLaughlin’s philosophy of making items have a functional dual purpose. “I’m starting to see functionality become hyper-functionality within shoes, which I love,” she says. And here, the absurdity of some of the designs is to ultimately inspire. “I want to be able to make something that inspires other designers and brands to go out there and use that as like a little bit of a pie in the sky inspiration.”

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Entertainment

A$AP Rocky Turned An Entire Manchester City Kit Into His Album Rollout

Photo: DannyB Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

A$AP Rocky doesn’t do album rollouts quietly, and this one recruited an entire Premier League club to help. Manchester City, PUMA, and Rocky teamed up on a limited apparel run tied to “Don’t Be Dumb,” his 2026 album, timed around his September 5th show at Co-op Live.

The centerpiece is a long-sleeve PUMA King jersey in black and archive gold, with “DON’T BE DUMB” running down the sleeve and AWGE branding worked in throughout. A bold “MANCHESTER” graphic covers the back. Fans could also add limited “A$AP 11” name-and-number printing onto the club’s actual Home, Away, or Third kits, while supplies lasted at retail.

There’s a players-only version too, and it never went up for sale. That one sticks closer to City’s usual sky-blue identity, with its own sleeve detailing and back graphic — the kind of piece that exists purely because a handful of people got lucky.

The whole rollout kicked off with a one-night pop-up on September 4th, when PUMA turned a spot in Manchester’s Northern Quarter into a pop-up cafe for the night, mixing football, music, and street style into one room before the wider release hit the stadium store the next morning. Some of those jerseys even came with golden tickets to the concert or that Saturday’s match.

Rocky has called the project true to his own design language, and it’s not even his only club collaboration this cycle — a similar drop with AC Milan landed around the same time. At this point, the line between fashion week and matchday has basically disappeared.

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Entertainment

Quavo And Lids Are Going All In On Atlanta With Their New Cap Pack

Photo: Finish Line / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Quavo has never been shy about his hat obsession, and Lids just gave him another outlet for it. Their new “Atlanta” pack drops September 12th, marking another round in a partnership that’s been running strong since 2019.

The collection is a love letter to the city, spread across three very different caps. One mashes up pinstripes, script lettering, and Braves branding into a single design, working navy, red, white, and light blue into the mix. Another goes the opposite direction entirely — fully iced out in crystal detailing, done up in black and red, with both the Falcons and the Braves showing up in the design. The third strips things back to an old-school “ATL” trucker cap in red, white, and gold, the kind of understated piece that lets the city’s name do the talking.

None of this is new territory for Quavo. He’s talked before about waiting on hat releases as a kid, and that same excitement seems to be what’s kept this partnership going years past most celebrity collabs. His earlier Lids run leaned on one moment — the Braves’ 1995 World Series win — but this pack pulls from the city’s whole sports history instead of just one highlight.

Lids has called Quavo one of the rare voices who can blend music, fashion, and sports without it feeling forced, and this drop backs that up. Given how fast his past releases have moved, Atlanta might want to set an alarm for September 12th.

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