Kanye West, the most frustrated person in the fashion industry in 2022, has disappeared from public view for several weeks.
The pop superstar was previously involved in a lawsuit due to financial disputes. Thomas St. John, the former agent of the plaintiff, recently told the media that the local court in Los Angeles could not contact him for nearly two weeks. The last time Kanye West was photographed by gossip magazine was on December 14.
The disappearance speculation was immediately generated, but so far no relatives, friends or brokerage companies directly related to Kanye West have come out to respond to this. Considering that he is almost alone, it is not easy to contact him directly. He broke with Kardashian's family long after his divorce, and his contract with Universal Music expired after the release of Donda.
Not to mention his partnership with Balenciaga, Adidas and Gap.
The earliest thing that ended was the cooperation with Balenciaga and Gap, which was obviously a time limited tripartite cooperation with the former, while the agreement with the latter was originally signed for 10 years. In September, Gap Group issued a statement saying that the two sides decided to terminate cooperation in advance due to differences in concept, but the originally planned series will be sold normally.
Until October Paris Fashion Week Kanye West also opened the fashion show for Balenciaga. At the Yeezy press conference held later, Anna Wintour, chief editor of the American Vogue, C é dric Charbit, CEO of Balenciaga, and Alexandre Arnault, son of CEO of LVMH Group, were present in person.
Despite constant controversy, Kanye West was still the darling of the fashion industry at that time. After the Yeezy launch conference, everything went downhill.
A T-shirt with "White Lives Matter" printed on the back instantly aroused the voice of crusade on social media. When Gabriella Karefal Johnson, an African American editor of Vogue, sent a paper criticizing the inappropriateness of the design, Kanye West immediately ridiculed it, which made him labeled as a bully.
It was supposed to end after Kanye West and Gabriella Karefal Johnson made up, but then his anti Semitic remarks in the media interview rose again. Along with all kinds of starting points, a school invested and built by Kanye West was accused of having no actual ability to run a school, and the relationship with Virgil Abloh was also disclosed to have broken down early.
The fashion industry can no longer tolerate this. Balenciaga had earlier said in a statement that the two sides had ended all cooperation; Gap removed all cooperation series originally planned to be released. The fatal blow came from Adidas, which announced the termination of its cooperation with Kanye West in the storm. Foot Locker, the American footwear platform, also said that it would stop selling all Yeezy products.
So far, Kanye West has almost lost the reputation he has built in the fashion industry. On the program of American right-wing conservative Alex Jones, he claimed that he "saw the excellent qualities of Hitler" and "I love Jews, but I also love Nazis". After this speech, his turnaround in the fashion industry is almost hopeless in the short term.
Once upon a time, Kanye West could be called one of the most influential figures in the fashion industry.
Kanye West has always had a fashion dream. After becoming a pop star, she once left her body to Fendi to become an intern in 2009. In 2011, he applied for admission to Central Saint Martin's College, but was rejected. In the report of the Wall Street Journal, he even discussed the establishment of personal brand with Bernard Arnault.
However, Kanye West began to gain success in the mass fashion market when he was constantly frustrated in the field of luxury fashion. The footwear series cooperated with Nike has affected the footwear industry, and the resale price has remained high. Yeezy, developed after turning to Adidas, used the model of co branding and hungry marketing, which influenced the later street fashion.
It can even be said that although Kanye West has not entered any high-end fashion house, he is the core figure in the whole street trend era. Behind the street trend is the black culture rooted in American society, which was initially enjoyed in small circles with subcultural characteristics such as rap, graffiti and skateboard.
Rap and hip-hop singers are the main characters who bring this culture to the public, and they have been and still are. They show street style in music videos and concerts. By 2017, hip-hop music finally took an absolute leading position in the music world, overtaking rock music for the first time as the music style with the highest sales in the United States, which indicates that the influence of black culture on mainstream culture has been huge enough.
Kanye West is now a pop star. Since his first solo album The College Dropout in 2004, he has become a favorite of music critics and sales lists. Powerful sampling technology and diverse creative style make him one of the most influential singers in this era.
When he starts to set foot in the fashion field, his influence can naturally cover the whole industry. Virgil Abloh and Matthew Williams have been promoted by Kanye West. When Yeezy fashion series debuted in 2015, Anna Wintour called it "please find others to comment"; In 2022, this controversial show will not be missed by important people in the whole industry.
From these perspectives, Kanye West has had enough success before being "canceled" by netizens and brands. Even if his fashion status no longer exists, the reputation he has built in the music field is enough to continue to affect the entire industry, which is in fact the most important cultural contribution he has left behind.
The brands that really suffer are those who choose to terminate their contract with him. Gap and Adidas have been in a growth dilemma in recent years. The cooperation with Kanye West is the driving force for performance growth.
Gap Group has said that Yeezy Gap's co branded sweater has become the product with the highest daily online sales since Gap was founded, and has attracted 70% of new consumers. The down jacket, which was launched earlier, is still a frequent visitor on the main street of a large number of fashion blogs in the hot climate.
According to the 2021 financial report released by Adidas, the revenue of Yeezy series is nearly 1.7 billion dollars, accounting for nearly 10%, with an increase of 31% in the latest fiscal year. After the news of the termination of the cooperation came out, the stock price of Adidas declined. After the termination of cooperation, Adidas is expected to have a negative impact on the company's net income of 250 million euros.
Although Kanye West still owns the trademark right of Yeezy, according to Adidas, the company still holds the copyright of all Yeezy design styles in the past few years. Gap Group did not make a statement on the relevant situation. However, these companies have no relationship with Kanye West.
On social media platforms at home and abroad, shoe collectors said that they regard Yeezy as a brand independent of Kanye West and pay attention to the story behind shoes. But the reality is that Yeezy has been bound to Kanye West, which is an extension of his powerful influence in the field of popular culture.
The more common follow-up may be that these companies will change the original models with Yeezy and cooperation before releasing them. In fact, the changes in Kanye West's life in the future may make consumers snap up some styles to remember. But after losing Kanye West's aura, the once scarce online red models will become ordinary ones.
