Yeezy Sneakers Go Back on Sale as Adidas Looks to Move Past Kanye West Controversy
Launch is hotly anticipated by sneaker fans despite rapper’s antisemitic remarks
Adidas ADDYY -0.21%decrease; red down pointing triangle released the first batch of more than $1 billion worth of Yeezy-branded sneakers, putting in motion the final steps in the agonized, monthslong dissolution of its once-lucrative collaboration with rapper Kanye West.
The release, which Adidas promoted with an online countdown clock, was hotly anticipated by sneaker fans, eager to get their hands on what will be the final pairs of the popular shoe. Some earlier versions of Yeezy sneakers have become collectors’ items, fetching as much as $1,000 a pair on resale websites.
For Adidas, the move marks the awkward start to the final chapter of its disentanglement with West, after a series of antisemitic remarks and erratic behavior that made the musician and designer persona non grata to many of his one-time corporate partners.
The company has wrestled for months with how to dispose of all the unsold shoes it had in inventory when it ended its partnership with West last October, at which point it halted sales of the line. Adidas in recent weeks said it would resume sales of its Yeezy stock and donate some of the proceeds to antiracism organizations, though it hasn’t disclosed how much. It has also said it would pay royalties to West, who is now known as Ye, under the terms of his contract.
Despite the unique circumstances behind this Yeezy product launch, in recent days Adidas has ramped up the marketing hype much as it would with the release of any highly coveted product.
The Yeezy channel on its website featured a countdown to the moment when the first two Yeezy models—the Boost 350 V2 in two color schemes—would become available early Wednesday. And in a sign of the fierce demand that Adidas expected from sneaker fans, it invited consumers to sign up for a prize draw through which the $230 shoes would be allocated.
On social media, there was plenty of buzz about the release among sneaker fans, as collectors from around the world got ready to grab their Yeezys.
Still, the sensitivity around West’s racist remarks led Adidas to tread carefully as it considered various options for the sneakers, according to Chief Executive Bjørn Gulden. Having ruled out selling the shoes as normal, the company mulled burning the sneakers, giving them away or selling them after removing the Yeezy branding, before finally opting, in consultation with antiracism groups, to sell the shoes and donate some of the proceeds to charity.
Adidas recently said that the Anti-Defamation League, which fights antisemitism and other forms of prejudice, and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, founded by George Floyd’s brother Philonise, would be among the recipients of donations from the Yeezy selloff. The Anti-Defamation League praised Adidas for reaching “a very positive outcome.”
The unraveling of the Yeezy collaboration, which analysts estimate contributed around 8% of Adidas’s total revenue, has been a major blow for the company. Adidas has lost money in recent quarters and said that a failure to sell the Yeezy inventory could result in hundreds of millions of euros of losses.
Adidas is now embarking on a turnaround under Gulden, who took charge of the company in January, as it seeks to bounce back from the debacle.
The company hasn’t disclosed how many pairs of sneakers it has made available in the initial release of Yeezy stock, or how they were received by consumers. The Yeezy channel on the Adidas website shows images of 14 models including the two that have been made available, suggesting that 12 more products are set for release over the coming weeks.
Sneakers can be a hot commodity and popular brands sometimes trade at even higher prices in the secondary market, making it likely that sneaker fans and collectors will overlook the controversies surrounding West and snap up the last Yeezy shoes while they still can.