Adidas Yeezy
Adidas Yeezy (or just Yeezy) was a fashion collaboration between American rapper, designer, and entrepreneur Kanye West[a] and German sportswear company Adidas. It offered sneakers in limited edition colorways, as well as shirts, jackets, track pants, socks, slides, lingerie and slippers. The first shoe model ("Boost 750") was released in February 2015. In 2020 Forbes described Yeezy's rise as "one of the great retail stories of the century".[1] Yeezy influenced and inspired a multitude of other fashion brands.[2] Outside of the former Adidas collaboration, Yeezy is the name of Kanye's company Yeezy LLC and is not connected to Adidas.[3]
Type
In October 2022, Adidas announced that it terminated its collaboration with West with immediate effect after the rapper made antisemitic remarks through various media outlets.[4][5]
Clothing[edit]
"Yeezy Season 1" was released on October 29, 2015, and was the first apparel collection to release from this collaboration.[37][38] The presentation was designed in collaboration with performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, who has previously worked with West on music videos and set designs.[39] This collection was noted for its stripped-down, ready-to-wear style, which drew on military clothing and flesh-toned colors.[40] The prices ranged from $600 for sweatpants to $3,000 for jackets.[41] Although the footwear sold out quickly, the apparel collection did not. West revealed in a 2018 interview that he was in talks with Louis Vuitton for a $30 million apparel deal. The deal was not approved by the LVMH board and West was left with no clothing partners. After the "Yeezy Season 1" show, Adidas announced it would no longer be a part of Yeezy apparel, instead focusing on the footwear collection with West.
With Yeezy Season 4 Adidas and West re-introduced several articles of clothing with Adidas branding.[41] Season 6 premiered in January 2018, with an ad campaign featuring porn star Lela Star (noted for her resemblance to Kim Kardashian), as well as Paris Hilton and other models. The participants were made up to look like Kardashian.[42][43][44][45] West would later use Star again as a model for a June 2018 shoe campaign.[46][47]