YEEZY
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Adidas brought in 400 million euros ($437 million) from the first release of Yeezy sneakers left over after breaking ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as the German sportswear maker tries to offload the unsold shoes and donate part of the proceeds to groups fighting antisemitism and other forms of hate.
The first batch of shoes released in June, which sold out, helped the company reach an operating profit of 176 million euros in the second quarter, better than it originally planned, Adidas said Thursday. A second sale started Wednesday.
After Ye’s antisemitic and other offensive comments led the company to end its partnership with the rapper in October, Adidas said it had sought a way to dispose of 1.2 billion euros worth of the high-end shoes in a responsible way.
“We will continue to carefully sell off more of the existing Yeezy inventory,” said CEO Bjørn Gulden, who took over in January.
“This is much better than destroying and writing off the inventory and allows us to make substantial donations to organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change and Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism,” Gulden said.
Adidas has already handed over 10 million euros to the groups and expected to give an additional 100 million euros, with further donations possible depending on how future sales go, Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer said.
Several Jewish civic leaders contacted by The Associated Press said they weren’t planning to buy a pair of Yeezys themselves but generally welcomed the plan to support anti-hate organizations, saying the company is trying to make the best of a bad situation.
The Adidas CEO said the Yeezy sales are “of course also helping both our cash flow and general financial strength.”
The first sale unloaded roughly 20% to 25% of the Yeezy sneakers that were left stacked up in warehouses, contributing 150 million euros of Adidas’ 176 million euros in operating earnings in the April-to-June quarter.
Ohlmeyer, however, cautioned that the Yeezy contribution was smaller than the number made it seem because it did not include many of the company’s costs.
Adidas also warned that the first sale included the highest-priced shoes and sold out completely but that it wasn’t clear whether the remaining releases would see similar price levels and demand.
The blow-up of the Ye partnership put Adidas in a precarious position because of the popularity of the Yeezy line, and it faced growing pressure to end ties last year as other companies cut off the rapper.
The torn-up contract was now in arbitration, “a process that is being taken care of by legal people” for both sides and was surrounded “by a lot of uncertainty,” said Gulden, the Adidas CEO.
Asked whether it must pay Ye royalties on the shoes, the company has said only that it will observe all its contractual obligations.
Yeezy revenue from June was “largely in line” with sales seen in the second quarter of last year, Adidas said. The boost has allowed the company to cut its expectations for this year’s operating loss to 450 million euros from 700 million euros predicted previously.
On the amount of money given to anti-hate groups, Adidas said the donations were not a fixed percentage of sales but that it had discussed with the recipients what an appropriate amount would be.
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Even with the fashion world turning its back on him due to his MAGA ways and antisemitic views, Kanye West isn’t giving up on his designer dreams. But finding people to help him create brand new attire might be problematic, as he resorted to Craigslist to recruit help for his Yeezy brand.
Highsnobiety is reporting that Yeezus is combing through online applicants on Craigslist, and has even taken to his social media page to gauge interest from potential “interns” who might want to help him get his Yeezy brand back on track with promises of “a future in clothing food and shelter.”
See the Instagram ask here.
So tempting.
Kanye’s team went to Craigslist to conjure up interest from potential applicants who are already experienced in the field of graphic design along with photography, photo editing, pattern making, social media, warehouse logistics, apparel manufacturing, and product development.
Any one-man army familiar with all these fields will be rewarded handsomely with an hourly wage of $16.04 an hour. You’re basically going to be an “intern” who’s getting paid cents above minimum wage to run an entire company. That’s so Yeezy.
Back in the day, people would’ve been falling over themselves to be a part of the Yeezy team. A simple ask online and by word-of-mouth would’ve gotten the job done, but after everything he’s done over the past year, Ye’s name alone has become toxic to millions of people.
The posting comes on the heels of adidas successfully selling off its remaining Yeezy sneakers this past week in which users of the company’s adidas CONFIRMED app were able to enter raffles for Yeezy Boosts, Slides, and Foam Runners.
While most people have sworn off Yeezy products after Kanye went “Death Con 3” on the Jewish community late last year, sneakerheads and resellers haven’t and went in on the app for Yeezy Day 2023.
Seeing that there’s still a niche for his attire out in the general public, Ye might feel emboldened to continue to drop new clothing and footwear to his millions of adoring fans. The thing is, will they still gobble up his merchandise without the co-signature of big-time brands like Nike and adidas?
Highsnobiety reports:
Maybe Ye’s new interns will help him reconstruct those since-destroyed YEEZY shelters, though. Better than living in the past.
But worth working 40+ hours a week at just over minimum wage? You’d think not but, then again, remember that Ye’s fans have stuck with him through hate speech and social media meltdowns. A little cheap labor is presumably a small ask.
Those interns will more than likely be helping rebuild Yeezy shelters on their lunch break after figuring out warehouse logistics and before breaking down apparel manufacturing.
That being said, don’t be surprised if hundreds of people apply for the position, as Kanye still does have a devoted fanbase for whom he can do no wrong. They may come with MAGA hats and Swastika tattoos, but they’ll come.
What do y’all think of Kanye West recruiting interns for his Yeezy brand via Craigslist? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Photo: Fox News/YouTube
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Some of Adidas’ remaining Yeezy shoes are back on sale — months after the German sportswear company cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.
Adidas ended its yearslong partnership with Ye in late October, in light of his antisemitic remarks and other harmful behavior. In the months that followed, the fate of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) worth of unsold Yeezys remained unknown — until earlier this month, when Adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden announced the company would be selling a portion of the remaining inventory and donating some of the proceeds to social justice organizations.
The first batch of Adidas’ remaining Yeezys went on sale Wednesday. At this time, the sneakers appear to be available through Adidas’ app “Confirmed,” according to the retailer’s website. Part of the profits will be donated to organizations including the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, Adidas says.
Wednesday’s release marks the first time that Adidas has sold Yeezys since the partnership termination in October. The Yeezy products up for sale will include already-existing designs as well as those that were initiated in 2022 and set to be released in 2023, Adidas previously noted.
“We believe (selling and donating these Yeezys) is the best solution as it respects the created designs and produced shoes, it works for our people, resolves an inventory problem, and will have a positive impact in our communities,” Gulden said in an May 19 statement.
At a May 11 annual shareholder meeting, Gulden explained the company made the decision to sell and donate Yeezys after speaking with nongovernmental organizations and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.
Some details of Adidas’ plans are still unclear — including how many Yeezys will eventually go on sale and what portion of sales will be donated. The Associated Press reached out to Adidas for further information on Wednesday.
Cutting ties with Ye cost Adidas hundreds of millions of dollars — contributing to a loss of 600 million euros ($655 million) in sales for the last three months of 2022, which helped drive the company to a quarterly net loss of 513 million euros.
Adidas reported 400 million euros ($441 million) in lost sales at the start of 2023, the company announced earlier this month.
Net sales declined 1% in the first quarter, to 5.27 billion euros, the company said. It reported a net loss of 24 million euros, a plunge from a profit of 310 million euros in the same period a year ago.
Operating profit, which excludes some items like taxes, was down to 60 million euros from 437 million euros a year earlier.
Meanwhile, investors also filed a class-action lawsuit against Adidas in late April, alleging the company knew about offensive remarks and harmful behavior from Ye years before terminating its pact with him. Adidas has pushed back on the allegations.
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The GAP has now jumped aboard the sue Kanye West train. Apparently his team made changes to a retail store without approval.
As spotted on TMZ the Chicago, Illinois native just got hit with another lawsuit. This time it is his short lived apparel partner that he severed ties with back last year. Apparently his team at Yeezy leased a property at 1360 E. 6th Street in Los Angeles, California but made several changes to the brick and mortar location that were not permissible as per the lease. Some of the unapproved alterations include constructing an exterior ramp located near the parking lot, making a tunnel in the lot, erecting a wall, uninstalling several ceiling lights and removing three bathrooms. “By making and not repairing or restoring the foregoing alterations of the premises that [West] made without Gap’s participation or approval, [West] breached the strategic agreement and directly and proximately caused Gap to incur expenses to repair and restore the premises” the lawsuit reads.
The property management agency Art City Center has since filed against The GAP and in turn The GAP is seeking Kanye to fit the bill for the damages. The two brands announced a partnership back in June 2020 but things came crashing down when Ye went full antisemite. “Antisemitism, racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values,” Gap said in a statement at the time of the scandal. But to hear Kanye tell it he left the deal on his own accord. “Everyone knows that I’m the leader, I’m the king,” West said during a CNBC interview. A king can’t live in someone else’s castle. A king has to make his own castle.”
Kanye nor a representative from his team has yet to respond to the matter.
The Gap is suing Kanye West over allegations that the rapper made unapproved changes to a Los Angeles retail location that resulted in an expensive lawsuit from the building’s owner.
In a complaint filed last month in Los Angeles court, the apparel giant claimed that West – and not Gap – is on the hook for a lawsuit filed last year by a company called Art City Center, the landlord who owns the retail space.
“Defendants made numerous alterations to the building at the subject premises without Gap’s approval, much less pursuant to the terms of the Agreement,” Gap’s lawyers wrote in an April 2 complaint. “The performance of the work not only breached the Strategic Agreement, but the manner of preparing for and performing the work caused the need for … repairs and restoration.”
Gap is one of many former business partners that split with West (sometimes known as Ye) and his Yeezy brand last year in the wake of antisemitic statements and other erratic behavior. The breakup was a particularly stark reversal, coming just a year after Gap announced a 10-year deal with West for a branded line called “Yeezy Gap.”
As part of that partnership, Gap agreed to open up to five retail locations for the Yeezy partnership, including one at 1360 East 6th Street in Los Angeles – the property owned by Art City Center.
In October, the landlord filed a lawsuit against Gap, claiming that the company had breached its lease agreement by making “numerous, significant, unapproved modifications” to the building. They included adding a ramp and a tunnel to the parking lot, removing three bathrooms, and removing lights that “led to additional damage to the ceiling and roof caused by water/rain.”
The company claimed that Gap owed $822,924 and counting in “holdover” damages – 150 percent of monthly rent for every month in which the building has original condition – and another $470,350 from the work that would be required to undo the alleged damage.
In its new complaint against West, Gap says the terms of their agreement require him indemnify the company against such legal claims.
“The Gap denies that it has any liability to [Art City],” the company wrote. “However, if the Gap does have any such liability, any damages allegedly sustained by plaintiff, if any, were the result of the actions or inactions of [West and Yeezy].”
West could not immediately be located for comment.
Gap is not the only former Kanye business partner now facing legal problems. Last month, Adidas was hit with a class action lawsuit claiming the sportswear giant knew about West‘s problematic “personal behavior” years prior to ending its partnership with the disgraced rapper but failed to warn investors about it. That case is pending.
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Kanye West might’ve “death con 3’d” his way out of the fashion industry, but that isn’t keeping his new wife from taking his designs and slapping it on her physical degree for all to see.
Earlier this week, Kanye’s allege wife, Bianca Censori, took to Instagram to strut her stuff in a brand new barely there fit that raised some eyebrows and scrunched some faces. Crafted by former Yeezy GAP designer, Mowalola, the new sheet of paper top and boots-and-undies bottom caused quite the stir as it seems to be part of the new YEEZY “Mary Magdalene” collection. Okay, we made that “Mary Magdalene” collection part up, but people are speculating it is part of the new YEEZY collection as only Kanye West would use a cross to cover up a woman’s butt crack like that.
The new outfit comes on the same week that Kanye West debuted his new haircut which featured a cross on the back of his head so y’all already know the crucifix is going to be something he utilizes into his projects and designs going forward.
We’re not the most religious bunch, but we feel at some point The Vatican is going to have to step in and tell him, “Please, just stop.”
The latest design comes weeks after Kanye West held a secret fashion show in LA for his YEEZY Season 10 collection which featured tighty-whitey American History X shirts and bald heads.
What Kanye West is trying to do or prove is up for debate but we don’t expect to see anyone outside of certain parts of LA rocking any of these joints anytime soon. Not hatin,’ just sayin.’
What do y’all think of the latest piece that Bianca Censori rocked in the name of Yeezus? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Source: Kanye West Purchases Second City In Wyoming To Bring Yeezy Production / Kanye West Purchases Second City In Wyoming To Bring Yeezy Production To The US
The adidas/Yeezy quagmire has finally found a solution. The three-stripe brand has finally decided it will sell it’s $1.3 billion worth of Yeezy apparel that it recalled after Yeezus went on an antisemitic crusade a few months back.
According to Hypebeast, adidas and Kanye West have come to an agreement to sell all the sneakers and apparel that adidas recalled from the shelves of sneaker stores across the board. And to avoid any kind of backlash from the decision, adidas will donate all the money they get to charity. Kanye, meanwhile will keep the 15% commission he’s entitled from every sale made from the Yeezy line (of course he will).
After months of speculation of what adidas would do with the remaining pairs of Yeezy sneakers it had in storage, rumors had began swirling that they’d do everything from give them away to incinerate them, to quietly move them on resale websites to make their money back and then some. But now we’ve finally gotten a concrete answer. They’ll just basically sell them for charity.
Hypebeast reports:
At the time of writing, it’s still unclear how much stock will be released to the market, what exact models and colorways will be launched and how it will drop (CONFRIMED App, online stores or wholesale retailers) as well as how much of the proceeds will be donated. “What we are trying to do now over time is to sell some of this merchandise…burning the goods would not be a solution,” Bjørn Gulden, CEO of adidas commented. The sportswear imprint pondered about donating all of the sneakers but felt that it would lead to them reaching the market in a volatile way.
It’s still going to reach the secondary market either way, but the question is what kind of resale value Yeezy’s will carry given the nature of Kanye West’s “canceling” in pop culture. After Kanye West’s deal with adidas was voided a few months ago, many expected resale prices for his Yeezy line to skyrocket, as they weren’t going to be sold or produced anymore. They didn’t. They experienced a slight bump in resale value but nothing remotely close to say a pair of Travis Scott x Air Jordan 1’s.
Now that we’ll be getting whatever stock is left, who knows if resale prices will rise or plummet in the wake of the new selloff. Either way, some charity out there will be more than glad to accept whatever monetary donation they get from adidas. And we can’t be mad at that.
What do y’all think of adidas deciding to sell their Yeezy stock and giving a portion to charity? Let us know in the comments section below.
After months wrestling over the fate of milions of unsold Yeezy shoes, Adidas said Thursday it will sell a portion of its remaining inventory and donate the proceeds to charitable organizations.
The German sportsware company cut ties with Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, in late October, following his antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews. Since then, the fate of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) worth of the unsold Yeezys, a lucrative sneaker line launched with Ye, has been up in the air.
At Adidas’ annual shareholders meeting, CEO Bjorn Gulden said the company had spent months trying to find solutions. He said the company spoke to nongovernmental organization and groups that were harmed by Ye’s comments and actions.
“Burning those shoes cannot be the solution,” Gulden said, adding that Adidas will try to sell part of the remaining Yeezy inventory and “donate money to the organizations that help us and were harmed by what Ye said.”
Exact details of the plan — including how many shoes will be sold and the timeline of selling them — were not disclosed. Gulden said the company will provide updates as it moves forward.
The move comes as Adidas is trying to stage a comeback and move beyond the Yeezy partnership. Cutting ties with Ye has cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars — contributing to a loss of 600 million euros ($655 million) in sales for the last three months of 2022, helping drive the company to a quarterly net loss of 513 million euros.
Adidas reported 400 million euros ($441 million) in lost sales at the start of 2023, the company announced last week.
Net sales declined 1% in the first quarter, to 5.27 billion euros, and would have risen 9% with the Yeezy line, the company said. It reported a net loss of 24 million euros, a plunge from a profit of 310 million euros in the same period a year ago.
Operating profit, which excludes some items like taxes, was down to 60 million euros from 437 million euros a year earlier.
Meanwhile, Adidas is also facing a class-action lawsuit from investors who allege the company knew about offensive remarks and harmful behavior from Ye years before terminating its pact with him. Adidas has pushed back on the allegations made.
Still, Gulden reminded investors that the nine-year partnership between Adidas and Ye was “sensational.”
While he noted that Ye is a difficult person, “he’s the most creative person in our industry,” Gulden said. “He created a model with Adidas that was sought after around the world.” But he added, “We lost that in a month.”
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Kanye West has another unpaid tab to pay. A court has ordered him and his YEEZY brand to pay a freelancer 300K in unpaid wages.
As spotted on Hype Beast New York based creative got a favorable ruling earlier this week regarding her ongoing claim that the rapper’s label has failed to properly pay her. Back in December 2022 Katelyn Mooney filed a lawsuit against Kanye West and YEEZY claiming that she was informally contract to curate a product shoot for SHDZ sunglasses line. She says she was promised $110,000 for the job but was only paid $15,000 of that. While she did not have a binding contract in place she was able to provide text messages with YEEZY employees to back her allegations.
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Needless to say she was never paid the balance of the monies she was offered to which she says she was forced to “max out her credit cards” and take out loans to meet her personal financial commitments including her monthly rent. On Monday a judge made a default ruling since no one from YEEZY ever responded to the court documents or showed up to court to counter her claims. Kanye West has yet to formally respond to the allegations of nonpayment.
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Kanye West AKA Ye is slowly coming back around on the heels of an appearance at a recent Fear Of God runway show and a pop-up of his YEEZY SEASON 10 event. Fans are also noting that Kanye West is sporting a new look in the form of some booty-hugging leggings that are tighter than a turn off a highway exit.
Kanye West, 45, was spotted earlier this week on the West Coast in all-Black leggings and a new shoe design that appears to be socks. According to the chatter on the digital streets, the sock-shoe combo is a new creation Ye is hoping to get pushed.
Adding to this, West just opened a YEEZY office on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles next door to an adidas store. Could be an epic troll move, who knows? At this rate, the new YEEZY SEASON 10 drop didn’t bring about the usual excitement that West is known for regarding fashion trends.
Of Ye’s new look, the top half of what we’ve seen in photos trends towards the baggy, slouched look of the 1990s and early 2000s, but the pants are of extreme contrast in fit. It could be part of Ye’s push for out-the-box designs in fashion or, he just doesn’t care anymore. It could go either way with Kanye West.
On Twitter, reactions to Ye in those skin-tight family jewel huggers are cropping up and we’ve got the best of the bunch below.
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