Tag: Adidas

In 2013, Kanye West was interviewed by Shade 45 radio host Sway Calloway. When the two were talking about Kanye’s fashion ambitions, Sway suggested that he produce the Yeezy clothing line independently. Unexpectedly, Kanye broke the defense instantly and roared at Sway: “How Sway! You ain’t got the answers Sway!”

Today, it has been nearly ten years since the birth of this famous scene, and now Kanye is in a protracted dispute with adidas and GAP. Looking back at that interview now, I didn’t expect that Sway back then would actually be a prophecy, which seemed to foreshadow Kanye’s current situation.

Recently, Kanye, who was shrouded in many news, accepted an interview with “Good Morning American”, and Kanye finally admitted: “Sway had the answers!”

This “slap in the face” behavior not only expresses his disappointment and helplessness in the process of cooperation with adidas and GAP, but also confirms Kanye’s determination to operate Yeezy independently.

Speaking of Yeezy, the business empire built by Kanye, the ambition to change the rules of high fashion from the very beginning gradually turned into the vision of “everyone can wear Yeezy”, Yeezy follows Kanye’s mental journey, like a child General growth.

If Kanye wants to, he can use his own resources to cooperate with top fashion houses and designer brands as he did with Louis Vuitton before, but at the same time he also knows that the pricing and target customers of luxury brands will not let his own Fashion taste penetrates deeper and wider.

And adidas has become Kanye’s biggest springboard to realize his wish of “everyone wears Yeezy”, and they have indeed made Kanye’s design popular. We even believed that it was only a matter of time before everyone wore Yeezy.

From 2016 to 2026, signing a ten-year contract with adidas may be Kanye’s most correct decision, but now it has become the biggest obstacle in the tug-of-war between Kanye and adidas.

From the Nike x Off-White™ that appeared in Kanye’s shoe cabinet in 2018, to the release of a footstep on Air Jordan 1 in 2020, most people thought it was just Kanye’s daily “repair”.

But with the more frequent appearance of Nike on Kanye in the past two years, people can clearly feel that Kanye is injecting his own emotions into such rebellious behavior, and wearing Nike has become Kanye’s way of venting his dissatisfaction with adidas.

Until recently, after adidas launched Adilette 22 slippers and adiFom Q sneakers, Kanye broke out completely: “For the sake of sneaker culture, I will no longer support this blatant plagiarism!” The battle with adidas kicked off.

“Yeezy Foam and slippers have changed the industry”, and whether adidas really plagiarized Kanye’s design creativity this time is a matter of opinion, but in addition, Kanye publicly slammed adidas for holding Yeezy Day without his consent, changing colors at will, and naming shoes Acts such as money, etc., fired at the top management represented by adidas and vice president Daniel Cherry on the personal social platform.

Interspersed in Kanye’s indiscriminate attack, another partner, GAP, was not spared. First by claiming that GAP did not notify him when they held a meeting about YZY x GAP, then accusing GAP of stealing designs from a tripartite collaboration with Balenciaga.

In an online interview with CNBC recently, Kanye revealed that he had terminated the cooperation with GAP. As soon as this statement came out, GAP’s stock plummeted by 4% on the same day, and then the termination contract circulated on the Internet and GAP officially confirmed the matter, YZY GAP will still be on sale, but the second wave of products co-branded with Balenciaga may be the last series of Kanye and GAP.

At the same time, YZY GAP ENGINEERED BY BALENCIAGA’s global limited store plan is also underway. Kanye’s performance art of selling goods with trash cans and sacks is still going on. Recently, he has come to Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul to start the layout in Asia. 

Recently, YZY SHDZ sunglasses have also been frequently exposed under the leadership of Kanye, and the advertising blockbuster and Icon’s upper body have not fallen.

The exposure of YZY SHDZ coincided with Kanye’s announcement that he was ending his partnership with GAP, so Kanye revealed in an interview with Forbes that he planned to sell YZY SHDZ sunglasses at his Ye Supply store for $20. “When it’s sold in the U.S., it’s made in the U.S., and when it’s sold in China, it’s made in China, so it’s $20 for glasses and $20 for everything in the Ye Supply store.”

Kanye reiterated his desire for affordable clothing after his 10-year partnership with GAP ended: “We’re looking at how to make clothes free because life is free.”

“The GAP switch is on my meeting and it doesn’t take me, adidas remodeled my shoes…whatever you want to call me if you don’t understand why I don’t give up my business, my brand and my kids , then you are lunatics.”

In the past period of time, adidas and GAP allowed Kanye to see the future he dreamed of, and it also made us feel that the vision of “everyone has Yeezy wear” is within our reach, but with the disintegration of Kanye and the cooperation between the two, I don’t know if the current situation is accelerating or hindering the arrival of Yeezy’s day.

If the disputes with adidas and GAP have come to an end, then another project that Kanye has devoted himself to, Donda Academy, has once again caused him to fall into a storm of public opinion.

Kanye recently stated in an interview with the Alo Mind Full podcast that he “hasn’t read a single book”, so people began to criticize Kanye’s DONDA Academy: “A school opened by people who haven’t read a book, you will make Are your children going to study there?”

Although Kanye claims that the school has rich courses, strong teachers, and celebrities like Jaylen Brown visit from time to time, the atmosphere of less than 100 people and the simple environment, in this Donda Academy, which mainly cultivates art and imagination, Whether it can really allow children to integrate into society has been questioned by many parents.

The establishment of DONDA Academy seems to be exactly the same as the establishment of Yeezy Empire. Whether it is changing education or changing fashion, they all have a long way to go. It is undeniable that they are all choices made by Kanye in order to change the world. try.

“Everyone knows that I am the leader, I am the king, the king cannot live in someone else’s castle, the king must build his own castle.” Kanye has already proven himself in countless fields, and the world is his next goal.

For the vision of “everyone can wear Yeezy,” we see Yeezy, and he looks at “everyone.”