BEHIND THE STITCH: ALANI
June 21, 2024
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Olaolu Slawn is back in his Rolex era, but this time, he’s multiplying the madness. The Nigerian-British artist has unveiled The Slawn Rolex Multiverse, a new project featuring 12 one-of-one custom watches created alongside a lineup of cultural figures spanning football, music, fashion and contemporary art.
The project feels like a natural escalation of Slawn’s relationship with Rolex. After turning a small run of hand-painted Datejusts into one of the most talked-about intersections of street culture and horology, he is now expanding the idea into something much bigger — 12 watches, 12 collaborators and 12 completely different interpretations of the Slawn universe.
And there’s still one name we don’t know.
For Slawn, a Rolex has never simply been a watch.
The London-based artist has spent years building a visual language around graffiti, cartoon-like characters, playful chaos and an unmistakably raw approach to contemporary art. Translating that language onto one of the world’s most recognizable luxury watches created an unlikely collision between street culture and traditional horology.
Now, The Slawn Rolex Multiverse takes that collision and turns it into an entire ecosystem.
Instead of producing multiple versions of the same watch, Slawn has invited different cultural figures into the process, allowing each one-of-one piece to become its own creative world.
The result is less like a conventional watch collection and more like a group exhibition that happens to fit around your wrist.
The new project builds on Slawn’s earlier Rolex experiment in 2024.
That project centered on a hand-painted Rolex Datejust 41mm, limited to just 10 pieces. The watches became closely associated with the artist’s expanding cultural circle, with names including Dave, Stormzy and Lil Yachty linked to the project.
What made the original release resonate was the contrast.
Rolex represents decades of precision, prestige and traditional luxury. Slawn brought graffiti, humor and the irreverence of London’s creative underground into that world.
The watches became a meeting point between two cultures that rarely occupy the same visual space.
With the Multiverse, Slawn is taking that same idea and removing the limitations of a single design.
The concept behind the Multiverse is straightforward but ambitious: 12 collaborators, 12 one-of-one Rolexes and 12 different creative perspectives.
The teased lineup reaches across several corners of culture.
Football legends sit alongside rappers. Fashion founders appear next to photographers, artists and nightlife figures. Nigerian skate culture shares the same project space as Japanese graphic design and American streetwear.
That range is what makes the project feel particularly Slawn.
There is no obvious hierarchy between the worlds being represented. Each collaborator becomes another entry point into the artist’s universe.
And because every watch is a one-of-one, none of the pieces are simply interchangeable variations.
The currently revealed collaborator lineup includes some of the most recognizable names across contemporary culture.
Ronaldinho brings football royalty to the project, while Mario Balotelli adds another unpredictable personality from the world of football.
Music is represented by Lil Yachty and Gunna, two artists whose visual identities have consistently extended beyond their music.
In streetwear, Clint419, the founder of Corteiz, joins the project alongside Zac FTP, founder of Fuckthepopulation.
The art and image-making world is represented by Cedric Christie, Gabriel Moses and Japanese creative force VERDY.
Nigerian skate and creative collective Motherlan adds another important layer, connecting the project directly to the African creative communities that have increasingly become part of Slawn’s wider cultural orbit.
Rounding out the announced names is David Grutman, bringing the world of hospitality, nightlife and entertainment into the mix.
The lineup currently stands at 11 announced collaborators.
Which leaves one.
There is something inherently interesting about Slawn choosing Rolex as the foundation for this project.
A Rolex is already loaded with meaning. It can represent achievement, wealth, status, family, ambition or simply a personal milestone.
Slawn’s approach complicates that symbolism.
By painting, modifying and reimagining the watch, he turns an established luxury object into something much more personal and expressive.
It is the same tension that has driven much of contemporary streetwear’s relationship with luxury: take something recognizable, strip away its expected context and rebuild it through your own culture.
The Multiverse pushes that idea further because the watch is no longer just Slawn’s canvas.
It becomes a canvas shared between Slawn and each collaborator.
Perhaps the smartest part of the announcement is that Slawn hasn’t revealed everything.
Eleven collaborators have been teased, but one additional name remains completely under wraps.
That final reveal gives the project another layer of anticipation and turns the announcement into an ongoing conversation rather than a finished reveal.
And with the existing roster already stretching from Ronaldinho and Balotelli to Lil Yachty, Gunna, Clint419, VERDY and Gabriel Moses, the question is less about whether the final name will be interesting and more about who could possibly fit into this already unpredictable lineup.
For now, the identity of the 12th collaborator remains a mystery.
Project: The Slawn x Rolex Multiverse
Artist: Olaolu Slawn
Total Watches: 12
Format: 12 individual one-of-one custom timepieces
Collaborators Announced: 11
Final Collaborator: Yet to be revealed
Release: August 2026
The project is expected to unfold throughout August, with further details surrounding the individual watches and the final collaborator still to come.
One thing is already clear: Slawn isn’t treating Rolex like a traditional watch brand.
He’s treating it like a blank page.
