Westside Gunn is adding another chapter to his growing sneaker legacy, announcing the release of the Griselda x Fashion Rebels x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 in the “Awesome Gods” colorway. The shoe is set to drop on August 28, 2026, a date that has now been unofficially dubbed Westside Gunn Day by fans and sneakerheads following the Griselda founder’s fashion journey closely. The design draws inspiration from Atmos and Jeremy Scott, giving the Jazz 9 a bold, maximalist energy that fits squarely into the aesthetic Gunn has built his entire brand around.
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For anyone who has followed Griselda’s rise from underground Buffalo rap label to full blown cultural movement, the sneaker world catching up to Westside Gunn’s fashion instincts feels overdue rather than surprising. Before Griselda was even a record label, it started as a clothing line under Gunn’s own Fashion Rebels brand, built years before the music side of the operation existed. That fashion first mentality has run through everything Gunn has touched since, from his Hitler Wears Hermes album series referencing high fashion in its very title, to collaborations with the likes of Virgil Abloh, all the way to this now expanding Saucony partnership.
The Saucony relationship officially kicked off with the Saucony ProGrid Triumph 4, Gunn’s first ever footwear collaboration, which released on December 4, 2025, timed to coincide with Art Basel Miami. That debut pair leaned fully into Gunn’s signature aesthetic, featuring a neon glow in the dark mesh upper, a snakeskin debossed tongue, a scorpion branded sockliner nodding to the Griselda logo, and his now familiar “Super Flygod” detailing running along the shoe. The release came packaged in a custom drawer style box complete with a Griselda x Saucony hangtag, a design element Saucony confirmed would carry through all future collaborations between the two. Kith hosted a signing event at its Miami Design District location the same day, where Gunn appeared in person to sign pairs for fans who purchased the shoe.
Alongside the Triumph 4, Saucony also teased the ProGrid Omni 9 as part of the same original rollout, giving fans an early look at a second silhouette getting the Griselda treatment. While the Omni 9 has not yet received an official release date, its early reveal alongside the Triumph 4 confirmed from the jump that this partnership was never going to be a one and done collaboration.
The Grid Jazz 9 entered the picture a bit earlier than fans might realize. Saucony first teased the silhouette during Paris Fashion Week in mid-2025, showing it off in an all red colorway nicknamed “Scorpion,” dressed top to bottom in reptile inspired leather overlays. That early preview set the stage for what is now becoming the shoe’s first full retail moment with the “Awesome Gods” release, bringing the Jazz 9 story full circle from a Paris tease to an official Westside Gunn Day drop.
Saucony has been vocal about how significant this partnership is to the brand’s broader strategy. Jason Faustino, the brand’s senior director of global energy, called Gunn “one of one,” noting that the rapper creates moments that move culture unlike anyone else and describing the ongoing collaboration as a story the two sides are still writing together. The timing has worked out well for Saucony overall, with the brand posting strong momentum across recent financial quarters and recently being named Company of the Year by Footwear News, a recognition that underscores just how much cultural weight collaborations like this one are carrying for the brand’s growth.
With three silhouettes now either released or actively in rotation, the Triumph 4, the Omni 9, and now the Jazz 9, Westside Gunn’s run with Saucony is shaping up to be one of the more consistent and well received rapper turned sneaker designer partnerships in recent memory. Given how deeply fashion has always been woven into Gunn’s identity, from Fashion Rebels to Griselda’s entire visual world, this expanding sneaker line feels less like a celebrity collaboration and more like the natural next step for an artist who has been designing his own lane since long before the music ever took off.
As August 28 approaches, expect anticipation to build the same way it did ahead of the Triumph 4 drop, with resale interest, retailer confirmations, and possible pop up events likely to follow. For now, all signs point to Westside Gunn Day becoming a real fixture on the sneaker calendar, one colorway at a time.
