Kanye West is finally spreading his wings as a fashionista, at least on a corporate level. Lately West has been adamant about letting his fashion sense shine, especially when it comes to showing off his business ventures in the fashion industry. We’ve been hearing West talk about what he thinks about brands, and now we’re going to see his name attached to the Nike brand.
Foot Locker has announced via their official Twitter page that they will be releasing Kanye’s sneaker called The Red Nike Air Yeezy 2. The sneaker will be available exclusively online two days after Christmas day.
It’s an odd move seeing as West denounced Nike as he had signed a new deal with Adidas, but apparently Kanye West’s Air Yeezy’s are actually going to make it to retail after all.
West has been extremely vocal about a range of topics this year. His candid nature is nothing new, but it’s been out in full force because of his promotion surrounding his new album “Yeezus.” Every other week it seems like we have a new West bit to report because the “Yeezus” rapper seems to be doing a promotional tour exclusively to radio stations during various stops on his tour. To put it lightly, West seems hellbent on making art out of the term “sound bite.”
Earlier in the year, during his BBC Radio interview, West went on the record about various issues that had plagued his image, and his many ventures, including his relationship with Nike. At the time West said:
“I got that opportunity to work with Nike, I went into that emotional space and place in my life and said, ‘What was it about that, what were the cues that I can add when I make the Yeezys?’ I wasn’t the one rapper that had the opportunity to do a shoe with Nike for no reason. It means it has to be another step, it means it has to keep going.”
Oddly enough two days after Foot Locker made the announcement about West’s Nikes the tweet seems to have been deleted and a new response was posted in regards to the new Nikes:
We have been getting a lot of inquiries on the Nike Yeezy 2. We have no info at this time, stay tuned for updates.
— Foot Locker (@footlocker) December 22, 2013
Of his lofty goals and the branding of Nike, West said :
“I’m not trying to get into (the high fashion) world. I’m trying to make a higher level of product for the REAL world. Because people say that life isn’t fair, and unless you’re Kanye West, or your parents had money, you don’t get to wear Versace all the time. The only thing about it that’s different with Nike, is there’s never a time when someone can walk in with some non-Nikes and you feel less in yourself. You still feel like the greatest version of you when you have those Nikes on.”
Here’s a reported photo of what Kanye West’s Air Yeezy 2’s look like.