Yeezy Szn Will Be No More With Adidas

*This article was written and edited BEFORE Kanye’s Anti semitic comments were made. Since this article was published, it has been confirmed that Adidas has dropped Kanye as a direct result of his antisemitism.*

Kanye West’s relationship with Adidas will officially be over after 2026 due to unhappiness from Kanye himself. According to Kanye (now known as Ye), he has been “lied to” by the Adidas brand as he believed he was stripped of his creative control from Adidas. Dating back to Aug. 2, 2022, via Kanye’s IG, he made a plethora of accusations about Adidas. Ye stated, “Adidas made up the Yeezy day idea without my approval, then went and brought back older styles without my approval.”

He also believes that Adidas stole from him from a creative standpoint as he added, “When I originally ordered Adidas to make more Yeezy slides, the GM lied to my face and said they didn’t have the capacity meanwhile Adidas was copying my slides.” 

His impact is substantial– just look at what happened to Gap. Gap’s stock dropped drastically due to Kanye’s outspoken outrage amongst the media. This, however, won’t destroy Kanye. Personally, I feel like this will only make Kanye a bigger name in the fashion industry. Adidas clearly rips off of Kanye’s work, such as the slides and the AdiFom Q; a clear copy of Kanye’s Foam Runners.

Kanye is indeed controversial and has made many bad decisions image-wise. Despite his behavior, we cannot discredit the man’s work for not only his brand but the Adidas brand as well. 

Here’s some input from our Blake peers. (These quotes were taken before the comments.)

Q: What’s your opinion on the situation?

Seth Burtin: Honestly, I don’t really like nor care for Kanye, to me he’s a piece of garbage yet I do respect his work. So Adidas stealing is absolutely wrong, but I believe they should just come to an agreement based on Kanye’s terms.

Marion Raymond: As a strong advocate for Kanye, this is absolutely crazy as Kanye is a marketing genius so this in itself is only putting more money in Kanye’s pockets and giving Adidas a really bad look. 

Blake Adams: Adidas knows what they’re doing, there are always loopholes in these contracts. Adidas has nothing to worry about, it’s Kanye who should really be worried if anything he already tarnished his name at Nike and now Adidas. This is only putting Kanye in a deeper hole.

Q: Will Kanye’s Impact hurt Adidas as he did Gap?

Seth Burtin: Absolutely not. Adidas is too big of a brand to be hurt by Kanye. Will it take some notoriety from a streetwear standpoint? Absolutely. But as far as money wise, Adidas is merely brushing this off. 

Marion Raymond: As a person who’s on Kanye’s side 100%, I, unfortunately, believe his name nor impact isn’t as big in the fashion industry as you think. I hate to admit the unfortunate truth but Adidas will be just fine.

Blake Adams: Not a chance. Adidas brings in so much money and I’m pretty sure Kanye doesn’t even bring in more than 5%. They’ll be just fine with or without him.

Q: Will the value of Yeezy increase even more after Kanye’s tenure is over?

Blake Adams: Yes. In streetwear culture, when one leaves a company it’ll increase in value so it’s inevitable for this to happen.

Marion Raymond: Yes, yes, a million times yes. I’m pretty sure you all saw the value of Kanye’s Nike shoe(s) Air Yeezy 1 and 2’s and those are going for thousands of dollars and are marked as one of the most expensive shoes to obtain. I believe it will for sure.

Seth Burtin: I don’t really want them to, but they will just due to the way the streetwear market, mainly shoes, in particular, is. Kanye created a legacy so they’ll increase in value.

Q: What do you think Kanye’s next step will be?

Blake Adams: I think Kanye will branch off but not to his own brand. I can ultimately see Kanye trying to get back at Adidas by trying to rekindle his relationship with Nike to compete with Adidas. Now Nike giving him his own line like Adidas did for him, not a chance.

Marion Raymond: Kanye’s making his own brand, no if’s, and’s, or buts. He’s already been looking to patent a new Yeezy logo so I’m most certain it’ll happen

Seth Burtin: No. If Kanye isn’t an idiot, he’d renegotiate and be fine with whatever offer Adidas throws at him but knowing Kanye it wouldn’t end well so honestly, I have no idea.

Q: Yeezy or Adidas?

Marion Raymond: Adidas because Yeezy in itself is very creative. There’s too much-limited access for them so I’m going to Adidas because they’re more reliable as far as availability.

Blake Adams: Yeezy. No one does it like Yeezy. Kanye may have the most innovative designs in the game and since he’s expanding to sports, this proves why I choose Yeezy over Adidas.

Seth Burtin: Yeezy. Ye’s creativity in itself regarding Adidas is out of this world in my opinion making me gravitate towards Yeezy as Adidas on the other hand has been kind of boring in my opinion.