14 DAY TRIAL // Last week, at the New York Fashion Week 2015, rapper Kanye West debuted his new collection for Adidas, the second since they entered what turned out to be a very lucrative partnership. There was little difference between the “new” creations and the older ones, which sparked a flurry of negative comments online, both from fashion publications / people and average Joes and Janes.
Prestigious fashion mag The Cut summed it best in a review of the collection: had it been presented by anyone else, someone who wasn’t named “Kanye West,” it would have been laughed off the catwalk. This wasn’t high fashion, this was basic items thrown onto models and passed off as couture.
New collection is mocked online
As you can see in the photos included in this article, one from the show and the other from Adidas, on the day of the launch, the second collection went for the same sporty / casual feel.
It also had a certain air of being put together in a rush, by throwing in everything Kanye found in his closet, from Spanx underwear to legwarmers, see-through tops and oversized bomber jackets.
The consensus online is that it looks like “slave fashion from the future” or, at best, something you’d put on if you wanted to head to the gym in the middle of the night, when you were sure no one else would be there.
Whichever way you look at it, fashion it was not, The Cut stressed. If anything, it was an embarrassment to have the collection shown at NYFW 2015, when other, actually talented designers couldn’t secure a spot because Kanye was occupying it.
Kanye West won’t hear your criticism
According to Us Weekly, Kanye has heard all these complaints and harsh criticism, but he’s choosing to ignore it all. He sees no ground for either, so he’s dismissing them as jealous comments made by “haters” who can’t stand the fact that he’s such a successful and brilliant designer.
“People hate on Kanye all the time. He doesn’t care in the least. He ignores the haters,” says a spy. “The show was beautiful and cool. And Kanye has never failed in this space. His Adidas shoes sell online for so much money. From a success standpoint, he is only reinforced by the fact that all he ever touches, all his collections and collaborations, sell out so quickly.”
Kanye’s argument to criticism that he’s not even close to the fashion revolutionary he imagines himself to be is that his Adidas shoes sell. If popularity was an indication of quality, then the critically derided “Twilight” movies should have won Oscars.
Today adidas long term partner @kanyewest presented a collection as a designer in his own right. Congrats, Mr. West! pic.twitter.com/MRPM7vMlul
— adidas (@adidas) September 16, 2015