Adidas Yeezy
Adidas Yeezy was a fashion collaboration between American rapper, designer, and entrepreneur Kanye West's Yeezy 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 was released in February 2015. In 2020, Forbes described Yeezy's rise as "one of the great retail stories of the century". Yeezy influenced and inspired a multitude of other fashion brands. Outside of the former Adidas collaboration, Yeezy is the name of Kanye's company Yeezy LLC and is not connected to Adidas.
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.
History
Proposed "Pastelle" line and 2006 meeting
In 2008, it was rumored that Kanye West was releasing his first brand, Mascotte by K West, to be funded by Roc-A-Wear. West began speaking with Adidas about a collaborative effort in 2006, when Gary Aspden met with him in a recording studio, alongside his manager. West proposed a clothing line called "Pastelle", designed its logos, and discussed the possibility of designing a custom version of the Rod Laver Vintage shoe for Adidas. West designed a shoe for Adidas that year, but talks with the company fell through, and the line was never released.Departure from Nike and deal with Adidas
In 2013, after the release of the "Red October" Air Yeezy 2s, Kanye West officially left Nike. Although West described this break as "heartbreaking", he claimed that Nike would not pay him royalties for his shoe designs, instead offering to donate some of the proceeds to a charity of West's choice. This ultimately led West to reach out to Adidas for a deal. Adidas agreed to give him royalties, and West described the CEO of Adidas as "someone who allowed me to build something". Under the partnership with Adidas, West retains 100% ownership of his brand while having full creative control over the products released.In February 2015, the Adidas and West collaboration officially debuted. "Yeezy Season 1" was highly anticipated and celebrities such as Rihanna, Diddy, and West's then-wife Kim Kardashian were at the introductory fashion show. The line featured heavy inspiration from military designs, which West had stated was driven by 2011 England riots. Bomber jackets, sweatpants, and stylized military jackets were heavily featured in the Yeezy Season 1 collection. While the fashion show started late, many deemed it as a success.
In September 2015, West held a fashion show for a new set of apparel in the Yeezy line, called Yeezy Season 2. Several hundred people were in attendance at the showcase for the line, which critics noted was not particularly dissimilar from the Season 1 line. The line was marked by light pink, tan, army green and olive tones, and featured pieces such as weatherproof boots, sweatpants, cargo jackets, and crew-neck sweatshirts. He later revealed that he began planning the Yeezy Season 2 line the day Yeezy Season 1 launched, and had begun planning his next set of apparel, Yeezy Season 3, not long after the September 2015 showcase. While the line's accompanying shoes were manufactured by Adidas, West opted to manufacture the clothes through other means and have them custom-dyed.
"Yeezy Season 3" also saw notable amounts of success upon their releases. In June 2016, West and Adidas announced an extension of the deal and the launch of a new Yeezy category. West claimed that Yeezy was selling out surprise 40,000-pair drops within minutes.
In 2019, Forbes compared Yeezy to Air Jordan in terms of cultural clout and commercial prowess. In 2020, Forbes described Yeezy's ability to rival Air Jordan for "sneaker world supremacy" within just a short period of time as "one of the great retail stories of the century". West was receiving an 11% royalty cut. That year, sales for the sneakers reached nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue, netting Yeezy $191 million in royalties alone.
In June 2022, West criticized Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted, accusing the brand of copying his designs and promoting a "Yeezy Day" sales event without his permission. In August, West continued his criticisms, stating that Adidas failed to open Yeezy retail stores as promised. In September, West stated that he would not renew his contract with Adidas once their partnership expires in 2026.
Termination of Adidas partnership
On October 7, 2022, Adidas placed its partnership with West under review after he made several antisemitic remarks and wore a "White Lives Matter" T-shirt at a Paris Fashion Week show days earlier. A social media campaign demanding that Adidas cut ties with West began. West continued to make antisemitic remarks through Instagram, Twitter, interviews, and podcasts, stating "I can say antisemitic shit and Adidas cannot drop me". In response to this behavior, Balenciaga, Vogue, Creative Artists Agency and MRC cut ties with West. Pressure on Adidas grew after the Goyim Defense League, an antisemitic hate group, endorsed West. In an investigative report in The New York Times, Megan Twohey obtained hundreds of previously undisclosed internal records and traveled to Portland and Los Angeles to interview current and former employees of Adidas and West. Her investigation uncovered misconduct from the artist dating to 2013.On October 25, Adidas announced an immediate end to the line, writing: "Ye's recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company's values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness." The production of Yeezy-branded products and payments to West ended upon announcement. Yeezy generated $2 billion in annual sales for Adidas, making up around 10% of the brand's total revenue. Adidas said the termination was expected to "have a short-term negative impact of up to $250 million", and warned it could lose $1.3 billion in revenue in 2023. According to Forbes, West's net worth dropped from $2 billion to $400 million because of the deal's end.
In February 2023, Adidas and West reached a deal to sell the remaining $500 million of Yeezy sneakers in 2023. The remodeled contract will reportedly focus solely on selling the existing inventory of West's shoe line and will not include his clothing line or new designs.
On April 30, 2023, West and Adidas faced a $1 million class-action lawsuit filed by customers alleging they were misled by the limited availability of the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 "Mono Cinder" sneakers. The lawsuit claims that the defendants engaged in deceptive marketing practices by falsely asserting that the sneakers were limited edition, causing consumers to purchase them at inflated prices. The plaintiffs argue that this led to financial damages for consumers when the sneakers became widely available at lower prices later.
In May 2023, Adidas revealed that the termination of its partnership with Kanye West resulted in a loss of €400m for the first quarter of 2023. The sales decline was particularly noticeable in North America at 20%. Adidas revealed that they were going to sell the remaining stock of the shoes, with a significant share of profits being donated to charities including the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change. Since re-releasing the remaining stock of sneakers, there have been three separate sales periods with the latest taking place at the end of May 2024 and throughout the first half of June 2024.
Clothing
"Yeezy Season 1" was released on October 29, 2015, and was the first apparel collection to release from this collaboration. The presentation was designed in collaboration with performance artist Vanessa Beecroft, who has previously worked with West on music videos and set designs. This collection was noted for its stripped-down, ready-to-wear style, which drew on military clothing and flesh-toned colors. The prices ranged from $600 for sweatpants to $3,000 for jackets. 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. Yeezy Season runways and clothing continued to be released independently by West with his brand Yeezy, Although Adidas were involved in producing footwear for Yeezy Season 5 & 6.Footwear
Adidas Yeezy sneakers were popularized by celebrities including Justin Bieber, Brooklyn Beckham, and Karim Benzema. Most of the shoes utilized Adidas's Boost material.Yeezy Boost 750
On December 3, 2013, Adidas confirmed a new shoe collaboration deal with West. The initial release of the Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 "Light Brown" was limited to only 9000 pairs and sold out within 10 minutes. Between February 21 and 28, the Yeezy Boost 750 "Light Brown" was available through a wider range of retailers and boutiques. "After Kanye West left Nike to partner with Adidas in 2015, he claimed his stake in the sneaker game with his first signature shoe: the Yeezy Boost 750."Yeezy Boost 350
On June 27, 2015, the second shoe from the collaboration, the Yeezy Boost 350 was made available through a worldwide release. The Yeezy Boost 350 marked an entry into "primeknit" technology, utilizing flat knitting machinery amalgamated with synthetic yarns. A preliminary version was made of a combination of petroleum-based ethylene-vinyl acetate and foam generated from algae. In October 2015, Footwear News recognized the Yeezy Boost 350 with its Shoe of the Year award. In August 2016, GQ recognized Yeezy Boost 350 as the most influential shoe of the year.On September 24, 2016, a second version of the shoe, known as Yeezy Boost 350 V2, debuted in a colorway called "Beluga".