The largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe and the second largest in the world after Nike, Adidas, has revealed that they will continue to sell Ye’s shoes designed in collaboration with Kanye West, however, without the Yeezy brand on them. This is coming after the company terminated its partnership with the U.S. rapper in October 2022.
“Although Adidas ended its sneaker partnership with Ye in September, his sneakers will still be a part of the company, but with a twist.” “According to CNN, Adidas will continue to sell the sneaker and apparel line, but the Yeezy name and branding won’t appear.”
“The company said it owns all Yeezy line design rights for existing and future colours and versions.”
“In addition, selling the sneakers under Adidas’ branding will save the company a lot of money. About $300 million in royalty payments and marketing fees, to be exact.”
Managers at Adidas maintained that it was the “sole owner” of certain design rights and upcoming colourways and that it intended to make use of them in 2023.
The sportswear company made it public that it was ending production of its Yeezy branded products with “immediate effect”. Adidas chief financial officer, Harm Ohlmeye, said plans to ‘leverage the existing inventory’ were at the moment being generated.
“Going forward, we will leverage the existing inventory with the exact plans being developed as we speak.”
The company faced pressure to cut ties with West over his prejudice against Jewish people on social media. They condemned and branded his comments as “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous.”
The decision to terminate the partnership cost the father of four, who had legally changed his name to Ye, his spot on the Forbes billionaires’ list. The contract accounted for around 1.5 billion dollars.
After the announcement, fans of Kanye are reacting negatively. Calling the move to sell Ye’s without Yeezy name a fake brand and vow not to buy the shoes.
Others called Adidas out for taking Kanye’s statement too seriously while another group of people shamed Addidas for easily cancelling black creators.
See Some of The Reactions
