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Adidas planning on releasing Yeezy products without Yeezy
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 10 November 2022
Adidas has indicated that it will still release products it has designed as part of its alliance with Kanye West and his Yeezy fashion brand, but without any Yeezy branding, obviously.
The rapper’s long-running partnership with the sportswear brand was already falling apart before West began his recent splurge of controversial bullshit.
Once that splurge was underway, Adidas said in a statement: “The company has taken the decision to terminate the partnership with Ye immediately, end production of Yeezy branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies”.
As it issued that statement last month, the sports company also noted that it is “the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colourways under the partnership”.
That was reiterated by the firm’s Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer during an investor call yesterday. And, according to Business Insider, the CFO added “we intend to make use of these rights as early as 2023”.
Ohlmeyer was reluctant to provide any more information on what that meant, although was asked whether the firm had considered the potential reputation risk of releasing these products without West’s involvement, and any angry ranting from the rapper that might instigate. The CFO responded: “We are working through all the options. When the time is right we will be more specific”.
So, nice and vague then. Given Adidas has said cancelling its Yeezy partnership could reduce annual earnings by as much as a half, it will be hoping to get some benefit from those existing designs.
It will be interesting to see how the products perform without having the Yeezy connection, which is to say, to what extent were products created under the West partnership attractive in their own right, and to what extent was it entirely the rapper’s brand that was securing sales?
It would almost be worth him not dissing Adidas at all on social media next year, so to see how much less money those products can generate simply without his involvement. Assuming there would be a sizeable slump in interest, that would neatly demonstrate the value of his brand.
What are the chances of that, do you reckon? Also, I guess that would only demonstrate the value of the West brand prior to his most recent meltdown. To what extent the West and Yeezy brands have been permanently tarnished by his most recent nonsense remains to be seen.
Elsewhere in Yeezy news, Rolling Stone has published an exposé of what it is like to work for the company, including the rapper’s tendency to abruptly fire staff. In one case, says a former employee, they were fired for suggesting that they listen to Drake on the office stereo, rather than West’s own music. Others say that they were fired or reprimanded for wearing the wrong colour.
