User:MatthewPulito/Kanye West

Fashion
Kanye West's fashion career has existed for nearly as long as his career in music. In light of the platform that his celebrity status had afforded him, he began collaborating with shoe brands in the mid 2000s. However, West's fashion career spans much further than sneaker collaborations. West has earned most of his billionaire net worth from 'Yeezy'; a brand that has made a monumental impact on the sneaker industry.

Kanye West has been intrigued by fashion design since his pre-adolescent years. In middle school, he would get in trouble for sketching shoes during class. In 2007, the success of his music career allowed him to create a shoe for the Japanese streetwear company: 'A Bathing Ape'. In 2009, Louis Vuitton released three shoes designed by Kanye West and Marc Jacobs, which sold out in under two days. That same year, his first shoe with Nike was released: the ‘Air Yeezy 1’. In 2012, the Air Yeezy 2 released, which has been referred to as one of the most anticipated sneaker releases in history. The shoes sold during presale for $90,300 on Ebay. Although West released successful shoe models with Nike, he officially withdrew from his partnership with them in 2014, expressing a lack of creative freedom, and a zero percent royalty stake. In 2013, West signed with Adidas, where he owns 100% of his Yeezy brand, and makes an unprecedented 15% royalty on wholesale. In 2015, Kanye West, in collaboration with Adidas, showcased Yeezy Season 1, a fashion show directed by West’s creative vision. The neutral-toned clothing line contrasted oversized workwear with form fitting activewear, as well as the first Yeezy footwear samples, namely the Yeezy 350, 750, and 950. West’s initial contribution to modern streetwear did not entirely resonate with the public. As a result, Adidas quit producing Yeezy apparel, however, they continue to produce Yeezy footwear. Kanye West continued to create Yeezy apparel apart from Adidas, with Yeezy Season 2 having a similar appearance as the first. Yeezy Season 3 was showcased in February of 2016, which also acted as a listening party for his new album: ‘The Life of Pablo’. Although the established ethos of Yeezy apparel remained, Season 3 saw it flourish into a slightly more colourful, textured line of clothing. 2016 also saw Yeezy and Adidas expand their partnership, with a clear intention of re-introducing apparel, and moving toward athletic footwear. Yeezy Season 4, which debuted in September of 2016, is a brighter collection of clothing; defined by many white pieces that were a rarity in previous Yeezy collections. Yeezy Season 5 premiered in February of 2017 and unveiled a new shoe: the Yeezy Boost 700. Yeezy Seasons 6 and 7 took a different approach, being partially showcased online by West’s wife at the time, Kim Kardashian, amongst other Instagram influencers. In March 2020, Kanye debuted his Yeezy Season 8 collection in Paris, where he also hosted his Sunday Service Choir.

Throughout the timespan of the Yeezy fashion shows, Kanye West released numerous shoes in partnership with Adidas. As mentioned above, the first Adidas Yeezy Boosts were revealed in 2015. In 2016, the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 released, which features a more carved out design than its’s predecessor. Since 2016, a wide array of Yeezys have been released, featuring different colours, patterns, and silhouettes. The shoe line has become one of the highest-demanded brands in fashion, earning over $1.7 billion in sales in 2020. The Yeezy brand has been the largest contributor in making Kanye West a billionaire.

The success of Kanye West’s Yeezy brand allowed him to ink a 10-year deal with Gap in 2020. West looked to partner with the clothing retailer in order to sell his fashion ideas in an accessible manner. In a 2013 interview, West spoke about his dislike for luxury clothing standards, stating that the prices are too extreme, and that he never wanted to sell Yeezy at a luxury price, but the market naturally demanded it. In a 2015 interview, West claimed that his ultimate vision for apparel would be to have a luxury design team produce clothing at an affordable price. He exemplified his distaste for luxury by pushing back against exclusivity – a characteristic of high-end fashion – and instead releasing large sums of his Yeezy Boost 350 V2 silhouette.

Kanye West is considered one of the most influential figures in the sneaker industry.