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Yeezy (brand)

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Yeezy
Type
  • Clothing
  • footwear
  • music distribution
  • news
Inventor
InceptionAugust 6, 2013 (2013-08-06)
ManufacturerLos Angeles Apparel
Websiteyeezy.com

Yeezy (often stylized as YZY) is a media and fashion brand founded by American rapper, designer, and entrepreneur Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, on August 6, 2013.[1] Incorporating fashion and music entities, it first began producing clothing in 2015 during and for the Yeezy Season 2 runway show.[2] The partnership between Adidas and Yeezy was ended prematurely in October 2022 after Adidas terminated the contract.[3] Yeezy is the subsidiary of Yeezy LLC, West’s main company that was incorporated on May 16, 2016.

History

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Yeezy Season

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Yeezy Season (stylized as YZY SZN) is a runway fashion line created by Yeezy.

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.[2]

Yeezy Season 2 debuted at New York Fashion Week on September 15, 2015.[4] Influenced by Japanese workwear, the collection was praised for strong silhouettes and diverse casting.[5]

Yeezy Season 3 debuted in Madison Square Garden on February 12, 2016. The collection debuted with West's The Life of Pablo album and was host to many viral moments, including Lil Yachty being one of the models.[6]

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.[7]

Yeezy Season 5 debuted at Pier 59 in New York City during New York Fashion Week. The collection introduced new graphical references and sportswear attires, a departure from the oversized silhouettes and post-apocalyptic influences of previous ranges. The much-anticipated Calabasas-branded items were debuted, along with a new pair of retro-inspired chunky runners. The Three Stripes logo was featured on several pieces.[8]

Yeezy Season 6, unlike other seasons, opted out of a runaway show for its debut. Instead, Kim Kardashian unveiled the collection on December 5, 2017, through a series of photos on social media. The collection featured jackets, hoodies, shorts, sweats, trench coats, and more.[9]

Yeezy Season 7 also used Kim Kardashian as the main model, sporting a neon color palette.[10]

Yeezy Season 8 debuted in 2020 at Paris Fashion Week. The show featured raw, textured garments with a neutral color palette, and materials such as wool from West's Wyoming ranch were used.[11]

Yeezy Season 9 debuted at Paris Fashion Week on October 3, 2022, and was streamed on YouTube.[12] 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.[13] Naomi Campbell walked on the runway at the fashion show, soundtracked by an unreleased Kanye West collaboration with James Blake titled "Always", in reference to the deceased Virgil Abloh. West stated: "There's just people. From the same planet. And sometimes, in high school, it feels like we don't fit in. And in a situation like this, we have the opportunity to come together to express who we are."[12]

YZY SZN X Casting Showcase (YZY FREE) debuted at 10 PM on May 1, 2023, held in Los Angeles at 8025 Melrose Ave.[14] The show hosted many male and female models with shaved heads wearing skintight white T-shirt and black stockings. Part of the show involved the models standing at attention and placing candles on a center table. The T-shirts were later given out to the public.[14] West was notably absent, leaving after the initial setup of the event, and wearing a retro Manchester United jersey.[15] Unlike popular belief, YZY SZN X was not a supposed Yeezy Season 10 or even fashion show, but served an event for models to audition for Yeezy.[16] However, some samples of pieces from Yeezy Season 10 have surfaced online via collectors.

Yeezy Gap

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Main article: Yeezy Gap

Yeezy Gap (stylized as YEEZY GAP or YZY GAP) was a fashion collaboration between Yeezy and the American clothing company Gap announced in June 2020, with its first wave of clothing releasing a year later in June 2021. In January 2022 the brand announced its collaboration with luxury fashion house Balenciaga, with the first collection from that line releasing the following month. Yeezy Gap was terminated two years after its announcement in September 2022 after a series of disagreements between West and Gap executives.[17]

Yeezy Gap was characterized by minimalist and utilitarian design, echoing previous Yeezy collections designed by West.[18] It consisted of "elevated" basic clothing, including hoodies, tracksuits, and jackets. The line was met with generally positive critical and commercial reception, although some criticized the manner in which it was released.

Yews

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Yews (stylized as YEWS or yews.news) was a news website created by Yeezy, which launched on December 13, 2023.[19] Daniel Schmidt served as a senior reporter, and Chad Spencer served as a reporter.[20] As of May 16, 2024, following Milo Yiannopoulos's termination from Yeezy,[21][22] Yews seems to have shut down.

Yeezy.com

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Following West's anti-Semitic remarks in 2022, his Gap and Adidas collaborations were terminated.[3] During this time, West went on multiple podcasts doing interviews, blaming Gap and Adidas for not reaching the affordable price points he wanted.[23] On December 13, 2023, he named Gosha Rubchinskiy as Head of Design at Yeezy via X, formerly known as Twitter.[24] 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 US$200. Then, on February 11, 2024, the price of YZY PODS dropped to US$20.[25] Anyone who bought the pods for US$200 was refunded US$180.[26] Later that day, West posted on Instagram a text message from Milo Yiannopoulos, Yeezy's Chief of Staff, showing he sold 260,000 pairs of Pods.[23]

Following this, on February 22, 2024, West released several items from his terminated Yeezy Gap collaboration on the Yeezy.com website in Europe and Asia only, seemingly without permission from Gap. The items were sold for US$20, lower than typical Yeezy Gap prices.[27] 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.[28]

As of June 26, 2024, the Yeezy.com website is no longer accepting orders for the time being. This is due to the site receiving a huge backlog of orders that Yeezy cannot fulfill unless they stop accepting new orders.[29]

Clothing

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Some of the clothing on the site is designed by either Mowalola[30] or Gosha Rubchinskiy.[24] Notably, everything is sold for US$20. The items are produced by Los Angeles Apparel, a company owned by longtime friend of West and CEO of Yeezy, Dov Charney.[31] Items include t-shirt's, hoodies, joggers, socks, and the YZY POD sock shoes.

Yeezy Porn

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On April 24, 2024, West 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".[32] This announcement garnered mostly negative reactions from West's fanbase. After the announcement, the Chief of Staff at Yeezy, Milo Yiannopoulos, made his resignation public through a resignation letter detailing the cause of him leaving the company. In the letter, Yiannopoulos described that he could not "be complicit in the production or dissemination of pornographic films and literature, for moral and religious reasons".[33] In a statement obtained by TMZ, Yiannopoulos said: “I wish Ye every success in the future. I have some concerns about his new team, and hope he proceeds with caution.”[34]

YZY APP

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In April 2024, West acquired two startups, YZY VSN and YZY APP, developed by fans competing for West's attention. After purchasing both companies for an undisclosed sum, West planned to merge them into an official YZY application for mobile devices. The founder of the YZY VSN startup, Massimo Venezia, was hired as Software Project Lead at Yeezy.[35] Ricky Dean Bro and Allessandro Giunta were also hired as designers by Yeezy for the app's development. The founder and creative director of the YZY APP startup is Robert Maldonado. On May 1, 2024, the development team presented a finished version of the app to West and Milo Yiannopoulos. Despite completing the project, the employees were reportedly not compensated for their work, leading to the filing of a lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks damages for unpaid wages, overtime pay, and emotional distress. West's wife, Bianca Censori, also allegedly sent an employee a file-sharing link containing explicit sexual content. These materials were allegedly accessible to minors working on the app, exposing them to inappropriate content during their development on the project.[36] Milo Yiannapoulos stated, on behalf of Bianca Censori, that the allegations were false and misleading.[37] As of May 16, 2024, following Milo Yiannopoulos's termination from Yeezy,[21] the future of YZY App remains unknown due to no further announcements by Yeezy or West.

References

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  1. ^ "YEEZY – Trademark Details". Justia Trademarks. August 6, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Standen, Dirk (September 24, 2015). "Exclusive: Kanye West Talks Yeezy Season 2, Presidential Run, and Sweatshirts". Vanity Fair. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Goldens, Jessica (October 25, 2022). "Adidas terminates Ye partnership, Gap removes Yeezy items over rapper's antisemitic remarks". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  4. ^ Corsillo, Liza (September 17, 2015). "See Kanye West's Entire Yeezy Season 2 Collection Here". GQ. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  5. ^ Iredale, Jessica (September 16, 2015). "Yeezy Season 2". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  6. ^ Lemola, Hasse (February 12, 2016). "The Complete Set of Looks From Yeezy Season 3". Hypebeast. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  7. ^ Estiler, Keith (September 8, 2016). "The Complete Set of Looks from Kanye West's YEEZY Season 4 Collection". Hypebeast. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  8. ^ "Here's Every Single Look From YEEZY SEASON 5". Hypebeast. February 16, 2017.
  9. ^ Orcutt, K. C. "Kanye West unveils Yeezy Season 6 with the help of Kim Kardashian". REVOLT. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Campbell, Graeme (March 3, 2020). "The Tumultuous Story of Kanye West's YEEZY so Far". Highsnobiety.
  11. ^ Leitch, Luke (March 2, 2020). "Yeezy FALL 2020 READY-TO-WEAR". Vogue.
  12. ^ a b Strauss, Matthew (October 3, 2022). "Kanye West Plays James Blake Collaboration, Wears 'White Lives Matter' Shirt at Paris Fashion Week Show". Pitchfork.
  13. ^ Santiago, Elliot (October 3, 2022). "A Closer Look at Ye's YEEZY Season 9 Ready-to-Wear Collection". Hypebeast. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Inside Kanye's Secret YEEZY SEASON 10 Show". Highsnobiety. May 15, 2023.
  15. ^ Chow, Aaron (May 3, 2024). "YEEZY Holds a Secret Season 10 Showcase". HypeBeast.
  16. ^ "[MEGATHREAD] YZY SZN X/YZY FREE". May 2, 2023.
  17. ^ Holman, Jordyn; Friedman, Vanessa (September 15, 2022). "Hip-Hop Mogul and Gap Officially End Their Partnership". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  18. ^ Inman, DeMicia (February 23, 2022). "Ye And Demna Officially Introduce Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga". Vibe. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  19. ^ Caraan, Sophie (December 13, 2023). "Kanye West Launches 'YEWS' News Platform". Hypebeast.
  20. ^ "YEWS logo looks a lot like the WAR stuff". Reddit. December 30, 2023.
  21. ^ a b Duncan, Charlie (May 16, 2024). "'Ex-gay' Milo Yiannopoulos steps down from Yeezy". PinkNews. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  22. ^ Brown, Preezy (May 16, 2024). "YesJulz Exposes Milo Yiannopoulos' Alleged Lies About Exit From Kanye West's Yeezy Brand". VIBE.com. Retrieved May 27, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Cowen, Trace (February 12, 2024). "Kanye West Is Selling Everything on His Yeezy Site for $20 'As Promised' (UPDATE)". Complex. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  24. ^ a b Destefano, Mike (December 15, 2023). "A Timeline of Controversial Designer Gosha Rubchinskiy, the New Yeezy Head of Design". Complex. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
  25. ^ Unknown (March 27, 2024). "Everything You Need To Know About The Yeezy Pods". Sneakernews.
  26. ^ Deng, Victor (February 12, 2024). "Kanye West Lowers Yeezy Pods Price to $20". Complex. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  27. ^ Nevares, Gabriel Bras (February 22, 2024). "Kanye West Restocks YZY GAP Collab Items For $20 Each". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  28. ^ Moore, Sam (February 12, 2024). "Kanye West Stars In Low-Cost Yeezy Super Bowl Commercial After Blowing Budget On Ad Slot". HipHopDX. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  29. ^ "YEEZY.com no longer accepting orders". Reddit. June 26, 2024.
  30. ^ Li, Joyce (December 15, 2023). "Ye Releases Mowalola WET Tank Recently Modeled by Bianca Censori". Complex. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  31. ^ Li, Joyce (January 7, 2023). "Ye Reportedly Taps American Apparel's Dov Charney as YEEZY CEO". Hypebeast. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  32. ^ Madarang, Charisma (April 24, 2024). "Kanye West Announces 'Yeezy Porn' Amid Reports of Adult Film Company". Rolling Stone.
  33. ^ Baio, Ariana (May 15, 2024). "Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos steps down as Yeezy's chief of staff". The Independent.
  34. ^ "Kanye West Parts Ways With Yeezy Chief of Staff, Mass Exodus of Employees". TMZ. May 15, 2024.
  35. ^ Suigeneris, Queen (April 17, 2024). "Kanye West (Ye) Acquires Tech Startups to Launch Official YZY App". Hip Hip Untapped.
  36. ^ "Kanye West Co. Sued Over 'New Slaves' Allegations, Bianca Allegedly Sent Porn to Staff". TMZ. June 30, 2024.
  37. ^ "Bianca Censori, Milo Yiannopoulos Slam Lawsuit Claim She Sent Porn to Minors". July 1, 2024.
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