Adidas Yeezy

Adidas Yeezy is a fashion collaboration between German sportswear company Adidas and American designer, rapper, entrepreneur and personality Kanye West. The collaboration has become notable for its high-end limited edition colorways and general releases offered by the Yeezy Boost sneakers line up. The collaboration has also produced shirts, jackets, track pants, socks, women's shoes and slippers. The first shoe model ("Boost 750") was released in February 2015.[1]

Adidas Yeezy sneakers
Adidas Yeezy Boost "Oxford Tan"
TypeClothing, sneakers
InventorAdidas and Kanye West
InceptionFebruary 2015 (2015-02)
ManufacturerAdidas
AvailableAvailable
Websiteadidas.com/yeezy

History
American rapper Kanye West had collaborated with Nike before his partnership with Adidas

Kanye West originally designed a shoe for Adidas in 2006, but it was never released.[2] The first brand to officially collaborate with Kanye West was Bape. Together, West and Bape released a pair of Bapesta "College Dropout" shoes, which are now quite rare and garner high resell prices.[3] He has also designed shoes for Louis Vuitton and Giuseppe Zanotti, and (most notably) Nike.[4] His collaboration with Nike lasted for five years and led to the release of a total of three (two silhouettes, Yeezy 1 and the Yeezy 2) sneaker styles.

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 pay some of the proceeds to a charity of West's choice. This ultimately led West to reach out to Adidas.[1] Adidas agreed to give him royalties, and West described the CEO of Adidas as "someone who allowed [him] to build something".[5] In February 2015, a year and three months after the confirmation of the Adidas and Kanye West collaboration, the collaboration officially debuted. "Yeezy Season 1" was highly anticipated and celebrities such as Rihanna, Diddy, and West's wife Kim Kardashian were at the showing. "Yeezy Season 2" and "Yeezy Season 3" also saw notable amounts of success upon their releases.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Yeezy received a $2–5 million Paycheck Protection Program loan to help it retain its 106 employees.[6]

Clothing

"Yeezy Season 1" was released on October 29, 2015, and was the first apparel collection to release from this collaboration.[7][8] This collection was noted for its stripped-down, ready-to-wear style, which drew on military clothing and flesh-toned colors.[9] The prices ranged from $600 for sweatpants to $3,000 for jackets.[10] 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 they would no longer be a part of Yeezy apparel, instead focusing on the footwear collection with West.

With Yeezy Season 6, Adidas and West re-introduced several articles of clothing with Adidas branding.[10] 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.[11][12][13][14] West would later use Star again as a model for a June 2018 shoe campaign.[15][16]

Footwear

Through a combination of factors including popularization by celebrities, Adidas Yeezy sneakers have come to be extremely influential and highly coveted.[17]

Most of the shoes utilize Adidas's Boost material.[18]

Yeezy Boost 750

On December 3, 2013, Adidas confirmed a new shoe collaboration deal with West.[19] The initial release of the Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 "Light Brown" was limited to 9000 pairs and sold out within 10 minutes.[20] Between February 21 and February 28, the Yeezy Boost 750 "Light Brown" was available through a wider range of retailers and boutiques.[21]

Yeezy Boost 350
Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 in the "Pirate Black" colorway

On June 27, 2015, the second shoe from the collaboration, the Yeezy Boost 350 was made available through a worldwide release.[22]

Yeezy 950

The Yeezy 950 was first released on October 29, 2015 at select retail stores and online.[23] It was part of the Yeezy season 1 collection and came in four different colorways: Peyote, Moonrock, Chocolate, and Pirate black. Each shoe was retailed at $399.[24] "The Adidas Yeezy 950 extended the Kanye West and Adidas partnership outside of the sneaker space with its military duckboot inspired design."[25] There have been no further releases of the sneaker.

Yeezy 350 Cleat

The Adidas Yeezy 350 Football Boost cleat was designed for football and it had made its first appearance in a 2016 NFL kickoff game. Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins was fined for $6,000 for wearing the cleats because they broke the NFL uniform policy by not having a solid base colour.[26]

Yeezy Powerphase Calabasas

The Adidas Powerphase Calabasas was released on March 28, 2017.[27] "The retro sneakers are an update of an Adidas trainer from the ’80s They feature a premium white leather upper with perforated stripes, green Adidas branding, and a red Trefoil logo."[28] A tonal grey colorway released globally on December 9, 2017 for a retail price of $120;[29] a "Core Black" colorway released shortly after on March 17, 2018. After the initial 3 colourways of the Yeezy Powerphase Calabasas, Adidas then continued releasing several Powerphase Boost without the Yeezy Calabasas branding.Adidas then brought back the '80s Adidas Trainer model that is the "YEEZY-Inspired Powerphase Model."[30]

Yeezy Boost 700

The Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 was debuted during the Yeezy Season 5 fashion show in 2017. The shoe released on August 12, 2017, for $300, exclusively via Yeezy Supply. At the time, two colourways of white/gum and black were also expected to release in 2018.[31]

On March 23, 2019, the 700 V2 “Geode” colourway was released synchronously with a nationwide lemonade stand charity campaign raising money for the National Alliance of Mental Illness.[32]

Yeezy 500

Desert Rat Colorway - This Adidas Yeezy 500 was released in December 2017, as a pre-order with delivery slated for March 2018.[33]

Yeezy Boost 380

The first Adidas Yeezy Boost 380 was released in December 2019, as a surprise release on West's clothing launch site Yeezy Supply. The debut colorway was known as "Alien." [34]

Yeezy Foam Runner

The Yeezy Foam Runner is the first Adidas Yeezy shoe made in the United States, and first released exclusively through Yeezy Supply on June 26, 2020. The shoe retailed for $75 and was partially made of harvested algae. The debut colorway was known as "Ararat".[35][36]

References
  1. The Ultimate Yeezy history
  2. "Kanye West Designed Adidas Sneaker In 2006 | SneakerNews.com". Sneaker News. 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  3. Nast, Condé. "The Only Kanye West Sneaker That's Cooler Than Yeezys". GQ. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  4. Bell, Jennie (2015-10-23). "Kanye West x Louis Vuitton Sneaker Collection Selling on eBay for $60". Footwear News. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  5. DotDev (2018-05-02). "This is Why Kanye Left Nike". Sneaker Freaker. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  6. "Kanye West's Yeezy got millions in federal small business loans". CBS News. Associated Press. July 6, 2020.
  7. "Kanye West & adidas: How the Collab Happened". Highsnobiety. July 23, 2017. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
  8. "adidas YEEZY Season 1 Release Date". Sneaker News. October 23, 2015. Retrieved 2017-07-25.
  9. Banks, Tim. "Yeezy Fall 2015 Ready-to-Wear Collection". Vogue. Retrieved March 26, 2016.
  10. "Kanye West & Adidas: How the Collab Happened". Highsnobiety. July 24, 2017. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  11. "Nude Kim K lookalikes for Kanye", The Province (June 14, 2018), p. A-44.
  12. Costill, Albert (March 26, 2012). "Lela Star – The Kim Kardashian of Adult Entertainment?". AMOG.
  13. "Paris Hilton & Porn Star Play Kim Kardashian for Yeezy Season 6". TMZ. January 31, 2018.
  14. "Paris Hilton Stars in Yeezy Season 6 Campaign". Rap-Up. February 1, 2018.
  15. Gonzales, Erica (June 13, 2018). "Kanye West Debuts a NSFW Yeezy Campaign with Nude Models in Sneakers". Harper's Bazaar.
  16. "Nude Kim K Lookalikes for Kanye", The Province (June 14, 2018), p. 44.
  17. "Yeezys Are the Most Influential Sneakers of 2016".
  18. Picks, Amir Ismael, Insider. "Here's why Boost technology makes Adidas the most comfortable sneakers ever". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-09-24.
  19. Little, Lyneka (December 4, 2013). "Adidas Confirms New Deal with Kanye West". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved December 6, 2013.
  20. "Kanye West's Yeezy 750 Boost Sneakers Restock After Selling Out". bet.com. February 28, 2015.
  21. Briguglio, Mario. "adidas YEEZY 750 Boost Online Release Date". Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  22. "adidas Originals Officially Announces Yeezy Boost 350".
  23. "adidas YEEZY 950 Duckboot Price + Release Info". Sneaker News. October 28, 2015. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  24. "The Four Fall Colorways of Kanye West's adidas Yeezy 350Boot". Sole Collector. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  25. "Adidas Yeezy 950 | adidas | Sole Collector". Sole Collector. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  26. "Texans' Hopkins fined $6 for his Yeezy cleats". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  27. "The Complete Yeezy Price Guide - Adidas Yeezy Powerphase "Calabasas"". Sole Collector. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  28. Jones, Riley (May 24, 2017). "Kanye West's Calabasas x Adidas Yeezy Powerphase Sneakers Will be Rereleased on June 4". Footwear News. Retrieved 2017-07-24.
  29. https://sneakernews.com/2017/12/01/adiads-yeezy-powerphase-calabasas-grey-store-list/
  30. https://hypebeast.com/2017/12/adidas-yeezy-inspired-powerphase-model-rumor
  31. "Adidas Yeezy Boost 700 - Latest Release Info". Sneaker News. Retrieved 2017-10-15.
  32. "Kanye West and Adidas Sell Yeezys Through Family-Run Lemonade Stands For Charity". Sneaker News. Sneaker News. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  33. "Kanye West's adidas YEEZY Desert Rat 500 Will Drop Again in March". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  34. https://stockx.com/adidas-yeezy-boost-380-alien
  35. https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/1276636607672733703
  36. https://stockx.com/adidas-yeezy-foam-rnnr-ararat
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