Kanye West Leaving Nike
An alluring discussion surrounding hip-hop and style icon Kanye West and the state of his partnership with athletic outfitter Nike has risen rather abruptly. Things between Yeezy and the Swoosh seemed to be rather copacetic, but it turns out that the relationship, based on what been going on recently with the Yeezus tour and West public appearances and radio interviews, is much rockier than initially perceived. Kanye revealed in an interview with Philadelphia WIRED 96.5 radio station that he signed a deal with a major company that would allow him a much broader line of footwear that would be more accessible, and a complete apparel line to boot. Basically, the deal gives Kanye much more control than what Nike ever offered him, and sadly to say, we may be near the end of the Nike Air Yeezy. But is that as unfortunate as it sounds?
The first Air Yeezy debuted in April of 2009. The sneaker was instantly one of the most coveted sneakers in recent memory amidst a string of lackluster Nike Basketball signature shoes and the like; it took the Beaverton brand on an unexplored tangent into the realm of non-athlete signature sneakers, and managed to hook the single most influential figure in pop culture. Without question, Nike has been the brand of choice for style icons for decades, but it had never completed an actual signature or even an endorsed shoe of Yeezy status with a non-athlete, so green-lighting the Air Yeezy, despite its high probability of success, was not the easiest of decisions for the Swoosh to make.
Kanye recent rants prove that notion; he claims to have had very little creative control with Nike and wasn given much opportunity beyond the Air Yeezy shoe, and even notes that Nike CEO Mark Parker could not understand why the shoe was such a popular item. But Nike success has always been (and continues to be) driven by functional innovation and next-level design, and the truth is that Air Yeezy owns only one of those key descriptions; it an incredible shoe that never found a place on an athletic platform. With that thought it mind, it may be possible that Nike put an expiration date on the Air Yeezy line when it moved forward with the concept. Was it more of a fun experiment rather than the start of a new an style category, regardless of success or fail?
What we do know is that Kanye, as he mentioned in the interview, signed a deal with a major company that would allow him to produce footwear as well as a line of apparel, and we obviously know that company is not Nike. Rumors have adidas coming into the fray (specifically under the Y-3 label) a brand partnership that actually makes sense considering the German brand (and Nike primary global competitor) has depended on the help of hip-hop celebrities (Big Sean, A$AP Rocky, etc.) and designers (James Bond, Rick Owens, Mark McNairy, etc.) alike. West certainly is a complete mix of both, and with adidas struggling against Nike in American markets, adding him on the design route rather than the celebrity co-sign would give both parties what they individually want, and would be rather fruitful once production hits the markets.
But let keep things a bit more current. Kanye Yeezus Tour, which has gripped the music world, has had a titillating sub-plot the Red Air Yeezy 2. Rumors upon rumors of the release have proven to be untrue, but various circles have tied it to the the tour on some level. While nothing surfaced yet, we do know that Kanye has chosen not to wear the Red Air Yeezy 2 in recent dates, although we don know if that a deliberate choice rather than going with something more suitable for the stage set. He been openly critical of Nike and its handling of his Yeezy line, claiming it wanted to keep it as small as possible, but clearly he airing out his displeasure in the biggest way possible.
Let also not forget that Kanye, generally speaking, will not react well to demands, and based on his unhappiness with the Oregon brand, he was likely told on a few occasions. (Jump to 7:00)
What a joke and so like the Nike Hypebeast brand and it's customers. Take the blinders off and realize that many of you are idolizing a brand and music that is force fed to you by the media and the hype. While it would make sense to guess that he will be going to Adidas, I am hoping that it doesn't happen although it would be a slap in the face to Nike.
I don't care who you are, what you think, whether you like Kanye or not. The man is a creative genius. He has garbage music, as well as amazing music that will go down in history. His shoes are cool, but overpriced and over hyped, but that's never been his fault, that's society's and Nike's fault. Whether you see him as a legend now or not, he's famous as fuck. He will go die a legend if he's not already living as one. I don't really care that he's leaving Nike, and I think him moving on to Y-3 can only be for the better since he will have freedom. If the new shit he puts out (clothing/shoe-wise) is dope, you, me and everyone else will buy it. If it's whack, I won't you won't, but all the Kanye dickriders and reselling beasts will, and when it seems like everyone wants it, everyone will want it. I know I'm kind of all over the place, but there's so much I wanna say lmao.
Most of these comments are way off subject. Am I on a sneaker site that asked the everyone's input as to Kanye leaving Nike or a debate over how talented or irrelevant we find him or his slut of a wife. Everyone who likes his work and is comparing him to legends of hip hop should be ashamed of themselves for even entertaining that idea. I'm sure mostly everyone who has those ideas are some youngsters and immature individuals. This generations hip hop or their take on it is utterly sad and consists of mainly grown men rapping about expensive fabrics, car's, shoes, not to mention how they also talk about dope selling, robbing, killing in a glorified manner. The actual legends are rolling over in their graves and shaking their heads at this nonsense called music currently. Only song this man has that is relevant is Jesus walks. Society has changed for the worst and current hip hop is a prime example of the lack of creative bodies of work. Mind you I'm only 26 year's young and have the intellectual ability to know what great music consists of. As for Kanye leaving Nike it's all for the best his arrogance and big head conceited ways are leading to his downfall. All he speaks or should I say rants about is major fashion labels shunning his ideas and how rappers are the new Rock stars. Sad how self absorbed he's become but all y'all dedicated fans keep buying his work if thats what makes you happy in life. Everyone needs a role model or star to look up to. Did you own a mobile phone and then any smartphone before the iPhone? Do you know what typography looked like on a computer before the 1980's? I'll be 40 next year so I'm asking you from experience not some distant land of hypothetical thought or theory.
What most people who make this kind of comment about Steve Jobs fail to understand is the rule of KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Steve Jobs understood that well. If you didn't learn this in your freshman year at a design institute please sue said institution. He also understood Hick's law. Try being a UX developer, product designer or software dev and not understand these.
Contrary to popular belief and urban legends people do not want "the kitchen sink" and then some when interacting with an unfamiliar device. Apple gets that or http://rongbingsx1.blogdehi.com/ at least they did. Is Steve Jobs a god? No. He was a man with flaws just like all of us here posting. Is Apple the best company ever? Please. I never thought this and they are in an innovation hot hole right http://ameblo.jp/saniling now.
Clearly I disagree with your comment. He never designed or coded anything. He was an advertiser. Who made the apple 2 that changed computing??? The woz. Steve Wozniak. Who made the first GUI? Xerox did. Apple didn't touch it. They just bought it and slapped it on their os. And OSX is just a reskinned version of Linux with all of the access to the actual OS taken away. He never came up with any original idea PERIOD. Meanwhile the guy that wrote the C# coding language, the coding language that is used by OSX, IOS, major parts of Linux, Windows, and has been used over the past 2 decades of computing passes and no one even cares. Im not saying he isnt great. He could take a shit in a ziplock bag, put a logo on it, and convince millions of people that they need this "revolutionary" and "artistic" new item. But he did create and ride the wave of the "Hypebeast" community.
Figured that someone would stand up and say that good stands for this or that. I can care less most these idiots stand up for this motherfucker like he's paying their mortgage or car note. He's full of himself and all his fans are full of shit. All these chumps are brain fucked by mainstream media what's the point of speaking facts about how arrogant or self absorbed he is. All y'all media whores don't give two fucks as I don't and know plenty will continue to ride the Kanye hypehoe bandwagon to the depths of hell. Have a nice time following this fuck who thinks he's the new God. The irony is this so called great legendary rapper that's not intelligent enough to name his label great music or legendary music just good music says it all. If I'm called white trash first I didn't pull a race card first you fucking imbecile. I'm a grown man and don't hide behind no keyboard to respond to these dimwitted trash rap fan's. I can handle myself or any of these weak retarded ass lames who think Kanye West is anything other than a self absorbed, arrogantly carried individual who thinks the world revolves around himself and his whore of a wife. This legend y'all speak of embraces the fact that "my girl getting paid off her home movie". Proudly rapping about it like it wasn't Ray J who tapped that and made her a so called star. He's so lost in himself he probably believe's he's the one who was the one in the movie with his confused self. But who's to argue with what society looks up to as stars and great music . Obviously it's not this man since, as I stated above names his music label good music.
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