Kanye West Discusses Yeezy Season 4 Fashion Show and Casting Call Controversy

Kanye West opened up about his Yeezy Season 4 fashion show and his controversial casting call with 'Vogue.'

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Complex Original

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Ahead of his anticipated Yeezy Season 4 presentation during New York Fashion Week, Kanye West sat down with Vogue to discuss his upcoming collection and his controversial "multiracial" model casting call.

As for what we can expect for Yeezy Season 4, Kanye says he wants to continue his military-inspired collections, adding more army surplus pieces in his signature neutral color palette.

"I want to make pieces that can be timeless,” he said. “Pieces that you can pick up out of a vintage store in 20 years and say, 'Wow, I’m happy I have this.'"

He also said his latest collection was inspired by Calabasas, the city in California where he lives with his family. He told Vogue that he had intended to send a pair of adidas track pants emblazoned with "Calabasas" along with the invites. The design sounds very similar to an adidas collaboration Kim Kardashian recently teased on Snapchat.

"I think it’s about embracing where me and my family live, where my kids are growing up, embracing the attitude and style of the Valley," he said.

Kanye also shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding the Yeezy Season 4 model casting call. Days before his fashion show, he shared details for a casting call that was looking for "multiracial" women in New York City. The use of the term "multiracial" angered some, who believed it was a way to leave out black women. But Kanye says that was not the case. 

"The ten thousand people that showed up didn’t have a problem with it," he told Vogue. He explained that the concept came out of a conversation with his longtime collaborator Vanessa Beecroft, and that it was not meant to exclude black women. "How do you word the idea that you want all variations of black?" he said. "How do you word that exactly?"

He also offered a few more details on his partnership with adidas, saying that he hopes to open 200 stores in the next year, with the first one being in California. He added that he is continuing his goal of trying to make his clothes more accessible for everyone. "I’m very focused on trying to make things far more affordable, far more beautiful, and for far more people."

Kanye briefly touched on the Zara collection that appeared to be a knock-off of his Yeezy Season 2. "I felt that when Zara took the color palettes from Season 2, it was the biggest compliment we could have had," he said. "It made me a more authentic apparel guy. And by them doing it, it also made the world more beautiful."

To read the entire interview head over to Vogue. The Yeezy Season 4 fashion show with stream exclusively on Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST on Tidal here.

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