Kanye West - Adidas Fashion collaboration.

The highs (your pic) were nice. I like that they are blending well with what other parts of the fashion-sneakers Adi is doing with for example Y3.

But the lows were great.

The battered apparel stuff doesnt bother me at all, but it seems to be getting on a lot of peoples nerves.
I enjoyed that it wasnt a cluttered collection with branding all over the place, like this have a tendency to be. It resonates well with Kanyes style, and fits adi’s direction at the moment.

But I just can’t stand Mr.West… :slight_smile:

A lot of people cant Stand Kanye. But I’m not sure how much that actually has to do with how the media portrays him. The comment at the end about Jean Touitou really hammers home how media shapes our views on things. The WHOLE thing is well worth the read. Do yourself the favor and knock it out today.

Halfway through the article and I don’t think I can lose any more brain cells.

I want to point out one thing to all the people who only work in fashion and don’t really take full consideration of this thing called the real world. People say, “Hey, Kanye, you’re going against all odds.” And I say, wait a second, the shoes sold out within the first 10 minutes. 9,000 shoes. So everyone, the odds are with me. The people are with me. Now it’s up to you to choose whether or not I’m chic enough to sit at your dinner table. And I could give a fuck about your dinner table, by the way. I’ve got my own petrified Rick Owens table in my house. Is that chic enough?

I listen to what he says. What he said about Beck is disgraceful. From those statements the only conclusion is complete narcissism/egomaniac. While that has no bearing on his work, it does reflect the content of the character.

I agree with IAB!

The guy is a complete self-centered idiot. I would rather shoot myself in the face than listen to anything he has to say. Besides, is he really a designer? I can’t imagine him drawing or sketching any of the garments, let alone working on the patterns and constructions. What does he really do? Does he even really make music or whatever he is supposed to do in his day job, or just tell people what to do?

Guys like this (Will.i.am is another) make me certain what is wrong with our society when we deem these people “creators”. They don’t make anything.



R

Ooof. Can’t stand Kanye, and because of his complete lack of respect to true artists (the Beck comments), his entire body of “work” is tainted. It’s not what the media portrays him as. He’s portrayed in the media exactly how he wants to be portrayed. He has a team of publicists that determine exactly what is said about him, when it’s said, and where. His shoes sold out because he’s Kanye. That doesn’t mean he’s good. One Direction sells out concerts, that doesn’t mean they’re good either. There’s just a market for garbage out there.

I’d also venture to guess that he had very little to do with any of this “collaboration” and was just given choices from talented designers to choose from.

I think the style/color of the highs are a bit muted but I can see myself wearing the lows. Both Shoes look extremely comfortable though. As a designer of houses I can appreciate the time and details of the highs even if they aren’t my cup of tea.

‘I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump. I honestly feel that because Steve has passed, you know, it’s like when Biggie passed and Jay Z was allowed to become Jay Z.’

Found this quote online the other day…I don’t even know what that means!!

J

I adore him, and his design!

I never understand this, I read interviews with him and listen to what he says in full context and generally feel like he has very high aspirations and hold himself to very high standards and just wants to do great and creative things. In the course of doing so he may make a big claim or two, but also usually tosses in a some very clear statements of a humility in areas that he may not be as versed in. Then I talk with friends, colleagues, or random people who read the same thing and come away completely tainted by his arrogance, which I just don’t generally see. I will never understand it.

As far as music goes, he is a genius, I don’t know how much producing he may be ghosting these days, but I would imagine it is a lot as he is definitely a bit of a control freak about his stuff. He is also HIGHLY skilled on the MPC which he used to do most of his early production where he was doing the work. That skill is what got him a spot at the table, he grinded out several years killing beats on the MPC for lots of artists outside of himself. The 101 Best Kanye West-Produced Songs That Don't Feature Kanye - SPIN

Along the way he was also inspired to become a better rapper and he has credited Talib Kweli as one of the people that helped him do so. Then when he put out his first solo album he featured an incredible line-up of artists like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Ludacris, and Common. Along with working with Chicago underground legend Rhymefest to write Jesus Walks. I came up on underground hip-hop from the early 90’s and by the early 2000’s hip-hop was feeling very stagnant, then College Dropout came along, this generally might have been a little too commercial of a release for me, but something about the timing, the mix of the more reputable artists, the fun aspects, and some of the more soul baring moments mixed in just had me from the beginning. He has experimented and grown since then and some the songs are genius, some of them not as much, but man, he’s pushing limits and trying things and I love him for it.

As far as the fashion goes, I’m sure there are designers helping him, he states it in the interview

, but again trying to execute a vision from a creative direction and he is trying to understand the process to be better at it as well, it’s in the interview. He also specifically says he is not a designer several times, to show respect to those who are doing the design work. The output is pretty good if you ask me. The new Adidas shoes, the lows are fantastic, and the highs are certainly more wearable than 90% of the other new designs I see coming out of any of the major shoe companies. The fashion, there are a few pieces that seem forward and solid, maybe not without reference, but he mentions that in the interview too. Sorry guys, I just don’t understand what is to hate about the guy.

/rant

Just to reiterate production skills, here are some songs he produced you may not have known he did

John Legend - Used to Love You

Alicia Keys - You Don’t Know my Name

And the work in action

a younger Kanye talking about creating beats and making music

making a beat in the studio on the ASR 10 and the MPC 2000

Quite simple.

He doesn’t understand that apples and oranges are not the same. He doesn’t understand he is not God. His perspective is not the only perspective. His opinion is not the only opinion. His emotions are not everyone’s emotions.

His comments about Beck are more than enough validation.

I feel like that is just false, yes, he stands by his opinions and certainly isn’t afraid to express them, but he admits at every turn they are only his opinions.
Have you actually read or listened to full in-depth interviews with him, I feel like most people hate him from the headlines or the outburst and then have no patience for listening to where he’s actually coming from.

As per comments on Beck, I certainly couldn’t believe he wasn’t more familiar with Beck’s work prior to the whole incident, that alone made him lose some points in my book, but then all this happens. I feel like he’s my drunk cousin, his hearts in a good place, but he certainly f#%$ up sometimes, but he’s never shy about admitting it either, just makes him more human to me really.

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If you can’t do, teach. If you can’t teach be a"producer".

R

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From your link, I quote his “apology”,

and I think I had a point about Beyoncé’s album,

When someone doesn’t admit they are wrong, it is not an apology. Of course an egomaniac would not have that perspective.

The man is a tool.

You seem unable to separate the art for the artist. They are 2 distinct things.

No, I get it, that’s just how I feel personally when I look at everything in total.
I understand how some can hate and dislike and dismiss, it’s just not been where I fall.

I , personally, can excuse certain behaviors and statements for great art /great outputs, but we are all different and that is not where many people fall. I certainly have a few friends who are by many accounts assholes at certain times and in certain situations, but they are also some of the more intelligent people I know, and for whatever reason I am willing to grant them more liberties with social graces due to the value they can add in other ways.

I think you are correct that I have a hard time making the separation, but I would also say that is partially because in many of the artists I appreciate, I don’t see a distinct separation between the two.

I’ll bet a dollar North winds up resenting her parents.

People consumed with their art have little time for else.