Ye (FKA as Kanye West) has been active on Instagram over the last few days, posting about various topics in his personal life as well as his frustrations with the brands he currently works with, adidas and GAP. While it seems that his issues with GAP are being resolved as he posted a video in which he gave a speech to various executives of the brand, adidas is getting the brunt of his frustrations. A series of posts called out individual members of the executive board, including outgoing CEO Kasper Rorsted, all of which were deleted after only a few hours. Still, his last mention of The Three Stripes was the most direct he has been regarding his grievances. Posting two photos of an alleged adidas lawyer, he has publicly stated that he wants to leave his partnership if adidas doesn't address the mishandling of his Yeezy line.
Kanye's History With adidas
The relationship between Ye and adidas began back in 2013 during his press tour for his Yeezus album when he continually brought up his resentment with his then-partner Nike over a lack of royalties and creative control on the Air Yeezy line. Hearing this, the former adidas Global Director of Entertainment and Influencer Marketing, Jon Wexler, approached Ye with everything he wanted, his own line that he would have full control of as well as a 15% royalty on every sale. Fast forward to 2015 and Yeezy Season 1 debuted with the backing of The Three Stripes, launching select styles like the Yeezy 750, 950, and the infamous Yeezy Boost 350 V1 Turtle Dove. Things were working out over the next half-decade as Ye continued to innovate and sales for the line ballooned to upwards of $1.5 billion. adidas had full faith in his vision, even allowing him to use their $50 million marketing budget his Sunday Service choir, though a downward trend began in their relationship in 2020.
Troubles with adidas's Yeezy Brand
During his first and only rally for his Presidential campaign in 2020, Ye spoke about how he felt disrespected by the German sportswear giant and claimed he needed a seat on the board, otherwise, he would leave. His love for Jordan Brand was also prevalent in this era, posting himself taking off a pair of Foam RNNRs for a pair of Court Purple AJ 1s and stating on a podcast with Nick Cannon that “... in my adidas contract, I definitely should be able to wear Jordans.” 2 years after this series of incidents, things would only get worse.
Once adidas introduced the Adilette 22 Slide, Ye and the public took notice of how similar the design was to his infamous Yeezy Slide, causing him to accuse the brand of stealing his designs. During a successful Yeezy Day 2022 in which an alleged $100 plus million was generated in sales, Instagram user ChaseSeesGhosts posted a private DM that was sent to him by Ye in which he claimed that adidas was not allowing him to approve various aspects of his brand's direction. “I guess everyone will just blame Kasper adidas when I leave I’m going to take my 15% on the fake 350s you gonna run,” Ye stated in a post, with the next one furthering this sentiment, “... It’s going to cost you billions to keep me It’s going to cost you billions to let me go adidas You stole my fucking designs amongst other things… I’m not waiting 7 months to leave like the breach letter I sent you refers to.”
During the writing of this article, Ye continued to post about his deal with The Three Stripes, stating that “They tried to buy me out for 1 billion dollars My royalties next year are 500 million dollars alone.” We’ll have to see how this all plays out as he also said he would wait until Tuesday for a response from the brand. If he were to actually leave this deal, many have speculated as to where he would end up. Considering his growth in net worth and his statements in the past regarding his foray into the fashion world, it's safe to say that at this point he is looking to go fully independent. To stay updated on the latest developments in this story, keep it locked to our Twitter and the Sole Retriever mobile app.
Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. Concerts, music, trying new restaurants, and catching the latest movies are some of the things I enjoy when not writing for Sole Retriever. Email: nick@soleretriever.com
