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Yeezy-season-8-fall-winter-2020-21-luxury-news

Every time I asked a fashion journalist what (s)he thought about Kanye West fashion show with his brand Yeezy, they literally run away from answering. The few I could still manage to catch by the arm told me it was without any interest. Then I wonder why magazines like Vogue do not try to be a bit more critic about certain things? Or at least not talk about it rather than just reporting the news in a pretty neutral way. At LuxuryActivist, we thought we would talk about it, and not in a pretty neutral way.

Trying To Be Part Of The Paris Fashion Week… But Not.

The first thing you could wonder is why the Fashion federation accepted Yeezy to be part of the Paris Fashion Week? The answer is simple: they did not. Kanye West collaboration with Adidas – YEEZY – was not part of the official Paris Week calendar (see here the official calendar). So Kanye West decided on his own, to parasite the official fashion week as if his private show was part of it. The show itself took place at the Communist Party HQ. For someone who supports Donald Trump, we might wonder if he knows to whom he gave the money for the place rental. Do not take me wrong. The Communist party HQ is an amazing architectural building. Designed by the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer in the ’80s, it has been rented several times already. Fashion brands like Prada, Louis Vuitton or Christian Dior have presented their collections there since the years 2000. The connection between Kanye West’s political views and the place made a lot of people smile.

Siege-parti-communiste-francais

Yeezy Fall-Winter 2020-21: No Interest

For what Kanye West calls “Season 8”, Yeezy presented a short collection of new pieces in front of Communist party building. The sound track of the show was basically cars honking all the way down the end.

The idea was to provide a reinterpreted taste of the West family Wyoming home town. The fashion show invitations came with a pouch containing around 12 fake ratsnakes eggs and a small bouquet of Sage.

Yeezy-invitation

What did we see? Matted fur pants and jackets in white, hoodies that nearly masked the entire face, and a booted remix of the Yeezy 700 v3 made their way down the runway.

As Robin Givhan, from the Washington Post, underlined talking about Yeezy fashion show: Fashion design is hard. Only talented creators make it look easy to do. Here, unfortunately it is just hard.

Yeezy-Fall-Winter-2020-21
Yeezy-Fall-Winter-2020-21
Yeezy-Fall-Winter-2020-21

To be honest, Yeezy should only focus on sneakers and Tshirts eventually. Fashion design is another game. There is nothing here that we did not see already in the past at Lacoste, Diesel or even Comme des Garçons. Probably the only outstanding point was the appearance of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian’s daughter, North, at the end of the show. She performed a rap/slam song, placing her as the incoming generation of performers. Good promo although we are still wondering what happened. She is an adorable child but I am not sure it was the right place and moment to do that. They were not really in their living room.

YZY + Adidas = YEEZY

While Kanye West struggled to continue his collaborations with Vuitton and Nike, Adidas offered him a nice deal to start a collaboration in a specific sneakers line. Almost 10 years later, Yeezy also launched clothes is trying to become a global brand. The challenge is Kanye West perimeter. Being friend with Justin Bieber, The Kardashians or Rihanna, helped Kanye West to develop a marketing buzz around the sneakers line. We could see some of his celebrities friends wearing Yeezy sneakers on their personal and professional lives. But there is a limit about that. Paying more than USD 200.00 for a pair of sneakers requires a lot more than just a celebrity leverage. It requires a strong brand and a deep sense of style. The only thing we could give Yeezy some glory is the comfort. They are truly comfortable sneakers. Unfortunately there are cheaters nice options or equivalent in terms of price.

In conclusion, Yeezy will live as long as Adidas and Kanye West will put their money in the brand. I would not be surprised to see Adidas focusing on the sneakers only and drop the ball on the clothes. We had here a great example about the difference between fashion and style. One is limited in time and the other is timeless. CQFD.

José Amorim
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