Fergie accepted the award for Best Throwback Song with the Black Eyed Peas at the 52nd American Music Awards in Las Vegas on Monday night in one of the night’s more extreme platform choices: Rick Owens’ Spartan Kiss Gladiator Sandals.
The singer joined Apl.de.ap, Will.i.am and Taboo at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to accept the award for their 2009 hit “Rock That Body” in black Spartan sandals from Owens’ spring 2022 runway collection. The open-toe pair was cut in black full-grain calf leather with a thick front platform, a transparent block heel and an exposed back zip.
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Across the foot and ankle, adjustable leather straps wrapped through silver-tone hardware, while a tall shield-like panel rose over the front of the foot and up the shin, giving the sandal a gladiator shape pushed through Owens’ industrial lens.
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The shoes came from Owens’ Fogachine collection, which marked his return to the Paris runway after several audience-free shows on Venice’s Lido. In his WWD review of the spring 2022 show, Miles Socha described the opening as “the usual bombast,” with fog bursting skyward outside the Palais de Tokyo. Owens told WWD at the time that fog was “big, cheap and dumb,” adding that the collection was partly mocking the post-lockdown hunger for partying while still delivering the kind of spectacle associated with his work.
Fergie wore the heels with a Hydrosteel silver-black leather minidress that kept the same hard-edged direction. The fitted, high-neck style combined black leather paneling with a silver perforated, mesh-like body, long sleeves and industrially sculpted shoulders. Zippers ran through the front and sleeves, while black leather bands carved around the waist and hips. She finished the look with oversize black visor sunglasses and stacks of silver rings.
For Fergie, the AMAs look also fit into a longer penchant for platform silhouettes. In June 2025 she wore Valentino’s rhinestone-covered Tan-Go platforms to Netflix’s “Too Much” screening in London, pairing the towering style with a feather-trimmed white minidress and a Union Jack clutch. She’s also worn platform styles from Roker, Saint Laurent and Prada in the past.
The AMAs carpet had its own run of statement footwear, from Teyana Taylor’s gradient python Christian Louboutin Miss Z pumps to Ludacris’ paneled Tom Ford sneakers, but Fergie’s return leaned into the kind of platform that did not read as nostalgic, even during a throwback-song win. Ahead, take a look at some of the standout shoe moments from the 2026 American Music Awards.