May 12, 2026

YAKU: Evolution of Combat, AW’26

Transformed into a temple for London’s NEWGEN designers, 180 Strand welcomed Yaku Stapleton on 21 February for his AW26 presentation, “Evolution of Combat”, the seventh chapter of “The Possible Family Reunion in RPG Space”. For the occasion, the space was reimagined as a living role-playing game, plunging the audience into the heart of the battle.

Words by Tova Bach

Since his early days at Central Saint Martins in 2023, Stapleton has been constructing a narrative through an Afrofuturistic lens, driven by the desire to see positive Black protagonists represented in the media landscape. Each season, he expands the family saga, shaping a world where his characters can move with true, boundless freedom and push the limits of what feels possible. But unfettered freedom doesn’t always lead to positive outcomes. A question the designer confronted this season. “If those imagined realities are meant to be useful, they can’t only show the good. So now we’re trying to make art that responds to the world rather than simply offering hope because hope alone doesn’t drive change,” he writes in the show notes. It is a way of restoring a connection between this fantastical universe and our own reality, shaped by its daily struggles.

Between growth and survival

Chapter 7 focuses on Amir and Nathaniel, brothers and protectors of the Family, echoing the warrior archetypes found in video games. The performance explored combat in all its complexity: not merely the physical struggle, but also impulsiveness, duty, and the emotional cost of responsibility. To achieve this, Stapleton drew from a remarkably wide pool of influences. Visual references from cinema (such as Enter the Dragon and Bruce Lee), anime (Berserk, Hunter x Hunter), and the world of MMA merged with Asian and Caribbean martial traditions, including Kalinda, Machete and Danmyé. The staging itself depicted combat among the Télavani, the brand’s imagined inhabitants of this universe. Some figures were frozen in battle stances, others perched on columns as if keeping watch, while duellists suspended above the audience crossed blades in a suspended clash. Dim lighting and a tense soundscape deepened the sense that the audience, too, stood at the centre of the battlefield.

Movement at the core of the show

For the first time, Yaku unveiled an official collaboration with Nike through its Re-Creation Programme. Several pieces, including a classic grey tracksuit and Air Forces upcycled with school-bin paper and fabric scraps – will be released in May 2026.

Interpreted by contemporary dancers making a dramatic entrance, the presentation introduced warriors ready for combat, dressed in over-dyed hoodies and tracksuit bottoms adorned with spikes and padded accessories. The ultra-oversized trousers, sometimes evoking military fatigues, allowed total freedom of movement. When the capacious hoodies embellished with spikes and padding were lifted, they revealed musculature painted with airbrush precision. Fantasy seeped into reality through the accessories: Wii-style swords and shields, spiked carapace-like backpacks, and 3D-printed Hulk-worthy hands.

Yaku’s collection is one that resonates for the story it tells rather than for any single standout garment. Perhaps it lacked a memorable piece. But that did nothing to diminish the immersive experience built around wearable designs crafted to give us the courage to face

the world as it is now. Growth, survival, conflict: Yaku Stapleton’s AW26 study of combat mythic combat zone. An RPG study of real-world combat