Yeezus is officially signed with Adidas.
The Hip-hop superstar and newlywed Kanye West dropped his shoe deal with Nike and signed a reported ten million dollar deal with Nike’s toughest competitor Adidas. West dropped the sports giant Nike due to the both creative and financial differences that were growing between the two. Disputes over how much West would get in royalty payments on all of the Yeezy-named releases led to the eventual severance of the relationship.
West’s time at Nike proved to be one of the greatest and most successful shoe collaborations of all time. First released in 2009, the first addition of the Air Yeezy was sold for $245, and had the fans and media buzzing. The shoe featured a designer like quality in its heavy use of leather and suede materials, but still incorporated an urban, basketball shoe-like structure. Social media rejoiced over the Nike and West collaboration due to both of their growing stature in the world, and the shoe became an icon in the hip-hop and pop culture. What made the shoe so sought after was the fact that only a limited amount of products were made. Unlike most shoes that stay in production throughout the year and are readily available in stores, the Nike Air Yeezy shoe was only sold at certain stores, in a limited amount.
The high demand and low supply caused the Yeezys to become sneaker-head gold. Avid shoe collectors and sellers deemed the shoe extremely rare, which made it nearly impossible to buy a pair. The aftermarket price of the shoe skyrocketed from the retail $245 to a whopping $5,000. West had created a product that continually increased in price without any effort from the company or himself.
Three years later, in 2012, West announced the release of the Air Yeezy II, a sequel to the legendary Air Yeezys. Just as its predecessor had done before, the Air Yeezy II stirred the media and when released, caused frenzy among the sneaker-head community.
With the Adidas and West collaboration, fans are expecting an even better shoe that will yet again shock the world. On his international tour, Yeezus, West announced that his project with Adidas was in full swing and he plans to release them sometime in September. Some fans, however, have their doubts about whether or not this deal is likeley to last.
“I feel like in the short run the Adidas collaboration is a good match,” said senior and shoe connosiuer Khalil Long. “But in the long run, money will cause them to separate, just like what happened at Nike.”