Side Kicks Streetwear • Global Release Guide
Updated: 10 August 2026
About the release
Westside Gunn and Saucony are back with what's arguably the year's loudest collab. The Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' pulls direct inspiration from Jeremy Scott's adidas work and atmos's various Nike Air Max releases, throwing an abundance of animal prints — both natural and unnatural — across a premium pony hair build. It's the physical extension of Westside Gunn's Flygod Is An Awesome God music series, timed with the release of the trilogy's final project. Style code S71047-5.
The build features premium multi-tone faux pony hair paneling in a wide variety of prints — zebra, deer, cheetah, cow — plus additional patterns that Westside himself describes as "what if there were a tie-dye creature." The toe box takes a turn toward iridescent for extra visual complexity, and multicolour pink and yellow fabrics land on the Saucony logos, tongue and back tab. Griselda's scorpion motif — Westside Gunn's signature symbol tied to his record label — is embroidered onto the heel window, imprinted on the leather insole, and appears on the hangtag. Griselda also gets incorporated into the midsole's Grid tech, which takes on an amber appearance. Butter-soft leather extends across the collar, sockliner and laces, and two sets of laces ship with the shoe — traditional black and white leather moccasin rope. No two pairs identical.
UK release is Friday 28 August 2026 for £170 via Saucony's EQL raffle, blientele.com and select retailers.
TL;DR – Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' S71047-5 Release Date, Price & Where to Buy
- UK release date: Friday 28 August 2026 (Westside Gunn Day in Buffalo, NY)
- Model: Saucony Grid Jazz 9
- Colourway: Multi ('Awesome God')
- Style code: S71047-5
- UK retail price: £170
- US retail price: $225
- Sizing: Unisex US 3.5 to 14
- Where to buy: Saucony's EQL raffle, Westside Gunn's blientele.com, select retailers
- Key details: Multi-tone faux pony hair paneling in zebra / deer / cheetah / cow / tie-dye prints, iridescent leather toe box, pink and yellow fabric hits on Saucony logos, tongue and backtab, embroidered Griselda scorpion on heel window, scorpion imprinted on leather insole and hangtag, butter-soft leather collar / sockliner / laces, two sets of leather moccasin laces (traditional plus black and white), amber-appearance Grid midsole with Griselda branding, no two pairs identical
Release date and price
The Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' releases globally on Friday 28 August 2026 via Saucony's EQL raffle, Westside Gunn's own blientele.com webstore, and select third-party retailers. UK retail is £170, with US retail set at $225. Unisex sizing runs from US 3.5 to 14.
The launch date carries local significance — 28 August is officially recognised as Westside Gunn Day in Buffalo, New York, following a mayor's proclamation in 2019. Portions of Westside Gunn's forthcoming Awesome God – Part 3 album were also recorded directly inside Saucony's Boston Innovation Hub, making the shoe a proper cross-brand cultural moment rather than just a product drop.
Design and details
Westside Gunn's second Saucony collab dials up the visual intensity from his 2025 debut, the ProGrid Triumph 4 'Super Flygood'. Where that pair went for neon glow-in-the-dark, this one leans into pure textural excess. Two direct references sit behind the design language — Jeremy Scott's Adidas Originals work and atmos's Nike Air Max collabs. Both are known for maximalist material choices, and both fingerprints are on this shoe.
Multi-print pony hair paneling
The upper features premium faux pony hair paneling covered in a wide variety of animal prints. Zebra, deer, cheetah and cow patterns all appear across different zones — and additional patterns push into more unnatural, colourful territory. Westside himself describes some of these as answering "what if there were a tie-dye creature?" — meaning parts of the pony hair aren't grounded in real animal references at all, but in imagined ones. Because pony hair naturally varies between individual panels, no two pairs are identical.
Iridescent leather toe box
The toe box takes a turn into iridescent leather, adding a shifting-colour material moment that catches light differently from every angle. Alongside the pony hair, it's another texture layer added into what's already a heavily material-driven build. Multicolour pink and yellow fabrics also hit the Saucony logos, tongue and back tab, keeping the shoe's palette busy from every direction.
Griselda scorpion motif
Westside Gunn's signature scorpion motif — tied to both his personal identity and to his Griselda Records label — sits embroidered onto the heel, imprinted onto the leather insole, and printed on the hangtag. The heel embroidery is the most visible execution, with the scorpion sitting within the heel window as a proper signature moment. It's the one detail on the shoe that unmistakably reads Westside Gunn regardless of the animal print work around it.
Amber Grid midsole
Underneath, the shoe's Grid tech midsole takes on an amber appearance — the translucent honeyed tone that makes the underfoot construction read as a design element rather than just a functional layer. Griselda branding is incorporated into the midsole, tying the record label directly into the shoe's structural identity.
Premium leather and lace options
Butter-soft leather handles the collar, sockliner and laces, adding a properly premium material moment against the busy pony hair panels. Two sets of leather moccasin laces ship with the shoe — one traditional set, one black and white pairing — allowing wearers to switch between different overall looks. It's the sort of finishing detail that lifts the collab beyond a novelty release.
Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' images
Credit: Saucony
Westside Gunn, Saucony, and the Grid Jazz 9's cultural run
Westside Gunn — real name Alvin Worthy — is a Grammy-nominated rapper and co-founder of Griselda Records, alongside Conway the Machine and Benny the Butcher. His creative catalogue extends well beyond music into fashion, sneaker collecting and cultural curation, and his approach to design projects — like this Grid Jazz 9 — is genuinely rooted in his own long-time collector identity. He follows in the footsteps of Jae Tips, another rapper-turned-Saucony-collaborator who has since decamped to Nike.
This is Westside's second Saucony release, following his 2025 debut ProGrid Triumph 4 'Super Flygood' — a neon glow-in-the-dark execution that established his design register with the brand. Future collabs are already in the pipeline: an all-red Grid Jazz 9 with snakeskin texture, and a Spider-Man-themed OriGrid Ombi 9 Web have both been previewed. This 'Awesome God' fits between the debut and those upcoming pairs as a maximum-visual-intensity execution — the sort of release designed to make a statement rather than blend into a rotation.
The Grid Jazz 9 itself is the ninth iteration of Saucony's Jazz franchise, which launched in 1981. The Grid Jazz 9 first debuted in the early 2000s and was brought to genuine prominence last year through Jae Tips' blue, pink and yellow 'I Love You But I'm Busy' collab — a release that made the Grid Jazz 9 into a proper collaborative canvas for the first time. This Westside Gunn pair sits directly in that lineage, using the silhouette's chunky, sculpted architecture as a platform for genuinely maximalist design work.
Where to buy
The Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' releases on Friday 28 August 2026 for £170 via Saucony's EQL raffle, Westside Gunn's blientele.com and select retailers. Browse the full Saucony collection, all Saucony Grid Jazz 9 releases and other Westside Gunn collabs on Side Kicks.
FAQ
When is the Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' UK release date?
The Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' releases globally on Friday 28 August 2026 via Saucony's EQL raffle, blientele.com and select third-party retailers. The date is also recognised as Westside Gunn Day in Buffalo, New York.
How much does the Grid Jazz 9 'Awesome God' cost in the UK?
UK retail price is £170. US retail is $225.
What is the style code for the Westside Gunn x Saucony Grid Jazz 9?
The style code is S71047-5.
Is the fur on the shoe real animal material?
No. The upper features premium faux pony hair paneling engineered to replicate zebra, deer, cheetah, cow and additional patterns. No real animal materials are used.
Are all pairs identical?
No. Because the pony hair panels naturally vary between individual pairs, no two shoes are exactly identical. Every pair carries slight differences in how the animal print patterns land across the panels.
What is the 'Awesome God' concept?
'Awesome God' is a physical extension of Westside Gunn's Flygod Is An Awesome God music series — the release times up with the trilogy's final project, Awesome God – Part 3. Portions of that album were recorded directly inside Saucony's Boston Innovation Hub, tying the shoe and the music project together at production level.
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