Yeezy (brand)

Last updated

Yeezy
TypeClothing, footwear, music distribution, news
Inventor Kanye West, Yeezy LLC
InceptionAugust 2013 (2013-08)
Manufacturer Los Angeles Apparel
Website www.yeezy.com

Yeezy (often stylized as YZY) is a media and fashion brand, founded by American rapper, designer, and entrepreneur Kanye West on August 6, 2013. [3] Incorporating fashion and music entities, it first began producing clothing in 2015 during and for the Yeezy Season 2 runway show. [4] The partnership between Adidas and Yeezy was ended prematurely in October 2022 after Adidas terminated the contract. [5] Yeezy is the subsidiary of Yeezy LLC, Kanye's main company that was incorporated on May 16th, 2016.

Contents

History

Yeezy Season

Yeezy Season (stylized as YZY SZN) is a runway fashion line created by West. Yeezy Season 1 was a collaboration with Adidas. However, all garments were produced independently, mostly of which by Los Angeles Apparel, with only shoes being produced by Adidas. [4]

Yeezy Season 2 debuted at New York Fashion Week on September 15, 2015. [6] Influenced by Japanese workwear, the collection was praised for strong silhouettes and diverse casting. [7]

Yeezy Season 3 debuted in Madison Square Garden on February 12, 2016. The collection debuted with Ye's The Life of Pablo album and was host to many viral moments, including Lil Yachty being one of the models. [8]

Yeezy Season 4 debuted at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in New York City, and was predominantly a Womenswear collection with appearances from Sofia Richie, Teyana Taylor and Chanel Iman. [9]

Yeezy Season 8 debuted in 2020 at Paris Fashion Week. The show featured raw, texturized garments with a neutral color pallete, and materials such as wool from West's Wyoming ranch were used. [10]

Yeezy Season 9 debuted at Paris Fashion Week on October 3, 2022. The collection featured oversized ponchos, 3D printed boots and a controversial shirt featuring Pope John Paul II on the front and a White Lives Matter print on the back. [11]

YZY SZN X/YZY FREE debuted on May 1, 2023, Held in a warehouse in Los Angeles. The show was host to many male and female models with heads shaved, all wearing a unisex skintight white T-shirt and holding a candle. the t-shirts were later given out to the public. [12]

Yews

Yews (stylized as YEWS or yews.news) is a news website created by Yeezy. It launched on December 13, 2023. [13]

Yeezy.com

Following Ye's antisemitic remarks in 2022, his Gap and Adidas collaborations were terminated. [5] During this time Ye went on multiple podcasts doing interviews, blaming Gap and Adidas for not reaching the affordable price points he wanted. [14] On December 13, 2023, he named Gosha Rubchinskiy as Head of Design at Yeezy via X, formerly known as Twitter. [15] On December 15, 2023, the YZY PODS, a sock-shoe hybrid and a small selection of other items were available on the site for varying prices, with the YZY PODS retailing for USD$200. Then, on February 14, 2024, the price of YZY PODS dropped to USD$20. [16] Anyone who bought the pods for USD$200 was refunded USD$180. [17] Later that day, Ye posted on Instagram a text message from Milo Yiannopoulos, Yeezy's now former Chief of Staff, showing he sold 260,000 pairs of Pods. [14]

Following this, on February 22, 2024, West released several items from his terminated Yeezy Gap collaboration on the Yeezy.com website in Europe only, seemingly without permission from Gap. The items were sold for USD$20, lower than typical Yeezy Gap prices. [18] On the same day, he premiered a Super Bowl advertisement for the website, which was a low budget phone recording of West speaking in his car. [19]

Clothing

The majority of the clothing on the site is designed by either Mowalola [20] or Gosha Rubchinskiy. [15] Notably, everything is sold for USD$20. The items are produced by Los Angeles Apparel, a company owned by longtime friend of Ye and current CEO of Yeezy Dov Charney. [21] Items include t-shirt's, hoodies, joggers and the YZY POD sock shoes.

YEEZY PORN

On April 24, 2024, Ye announced via social media YEEZY PORN, a pornography venture with a video depicting a blank white screen with the text "YEEZY PORN IS CUMMING 4 24 24". [22] The accompanying YEEZY.PORN website was unveiled simultaneously. This announcement garnered mixed reactions from fans. The promotional video associated with the venture has since been removed from Ye's YouTube and Instagram pages, though they remain accessible on the website.

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References

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  2. Benveniste, Alexis. "Walmart is coming after Kanye West's Yeezy logo". CNN. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  3. "YEEZY – Trademark Details". Justia Trademarks. August 6, 2013.
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  16. Unknown (March 27, 2024). "Everything You Need To Know About The Yeezy Pods". Sneakernews.
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  22. Madarang, Charisma (April 24, 2024). "Kanye West Announces 'Yeezy Porn' Amid Reports of Adult Film Company". Rolling Stone.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)