Kanye West may be public enemy number one to many, but the Yeezy fashion mogul seems to have gotten exactly what he wanted. After expressing his unhappiness with his Adidas and Gap partnership, West unleashed an rant that got him dropped from both companies years before their deals were set to expire. Now a free agent and in full ownership of the Yeezy name, he can do what he wants. It’s reported that West may be looking for a new retailer to partner with despite admitting over the summer he wanted to eliminate the “middle man.” Does West have any options left on the table after everyone’s turned him away?
Earlier this week, Adidas made the decision to finally cut ties with Kanye after weeks of pressure from the public. The choice is costing everyone millions, including West, who lost his coveted billionaire status as a result. However, Kanye took to IG to let fans know that even though Adidas owns his sneaker designs and plans to continue producing them without him in the new year, he is still the sole owner of the Yeezy brand.
Prior to all the fallout, West told ABC News’ Linsey Davis over the summer that his goal was to regain control of his products and sell them directly to consumers after being unhappy with the way The Gap did their partnership rollout. West joked that radio and television personality Sway “had the answers” after he told him several years ago that he should have gone into business by himself. “It’s time for me to go and make something great that inspires the next me. I’m the boss of me, I’m not just the mascot.”
It appears this week he had a change of heart, as it was reported that the “Gold Digger” hitmaker marched right into Skechers on October 26th looking to speak with the company about a partnership. He was promptly escorted out since he had arrived uninvited and was doing unauthorized filming. In a statement, Skechers confirmed they had no plans to work with West and did not condone his recent remarks.
Fashion retailer TJ Maxx is famous for taking surplus clothing from high-end brands and selling them for substantially cheaper. With so much of Ye’s clothes being pulled off the market, many anticipated the discounted companies to cash in and buy up whatever is left. However, TJ Maxx revealed strict plans to keep Yeezy out of their stores at all costs. “At TJX, we do not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or hate of any kind. We have instructed our buying teams not to purchase this merchandise for sale in any of our stores globally,” the company said in an official statement.
Even auction companies who specialize in selling rare sneakers have opted to take Yeezy’s out of rotation. Auction house Christie’s was handling the private sale of a one-of-a-kind Nike Air Yeezy 1 prototype that Kanye wore to the 2008 Grammy Awards. They have since taken it off the market. The last pair of Nike Air Yeezy prototype sold for $1.8 million in 2021.
So where can West turn now if he’s not immediately interested in going it alone for this next chapter? New reports are saying Kanye is hoping to partner with black-owned businesses for any future iterations of Yeezy. Several black-owned sneaker companies have reported West approaching them to develop new partnerships, which would bring awareness to their companies while giving him more control. “With all of his power, influence, and wide reach, it’s the last thing that major corporations want. This is huge,” one owner told Black Enterprise anonymously.
Kanye West just made the biggest play in history and nobody caught it 🤣🤣🤣 💯 % Ownership watch how He Be come The Biggest Brand In the World 🌍 that’s 💯 % Black Owned Ain’t Nobody in the World [expletive] with Ye Rn pic.twitter.com/ATy0kaWboq
— KARMIE-WORLD808 (@camkuttaFDT) October 26, 2022
Those who have been approached by Kanye are seeing this as a massive win. Despite his public image right now and backlash from his remarks, West is still one of the most powerful men in fashion and media. Empowering black-owned designers would create a massive shift in the world of fashion. “THIS SHIFT TAKES THE POWER AWAY FROM OUR OPPRESSORS AND PUTS IT BACK INTO HANDS OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE THE GATEKEEPERS OF POPULAR CULTURE!” said one of the other owners he approached.
Fans on Twitter seem to get the vision and are already support Ye saying, “I get it now, @kanyewest has the capital and pull, influence to create distribute, market and successfully Propel a fully black owned primary-secondary and tertiary sector business model HISTORY IS ABOUT TO BE MADE .think about it at this pace WHO WOUDNT BUY #yeezys.”
No word on whether Kanye has started taking meetings, but this would be a game changer. Although Kanye does not own the design , the rapper does have a huge influence and is a visionary in the world of music and fashion. We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.
