If you dediced to hide underneath a rock for all of yesterday, you may have missed the fact that Kanye West gave Style Dot Com one of the best interviews of all time *Kanye voice*. Style's Editor-in-Chief, Dirk Standen, who you may remember got that coveted Ralph Lauren scoop, asked Kanye the hard questions and extracted quotable on quotable on quotable from him. Kanye is clearly on a press junket now that his Adidas collection is out here for the entire world to see and while we thought one of our colleagues got the juice, that may have just been wishful thinking (btw pray for Doc Tac as he's definitely on the verge of taking his own life). Guys, this shit right here is fucking legendary. It's legitimately one of the best interviews you will ever read.
On the Adidas collection being widely available:
Adidas is the perfect place to be. If someone was to say, “Hey, do you want to go to a high-end house now?” I’d absolutely say no. I’m not trying to [sound] presumptuous, I’m just saying that if in my wildest dreams I was presented with the opportunity, I would absolutely say no at this point. Because I’m only concerned with making beautiful products available to as many people as possible … The least I could do is spend my time trying to give other people a piece of the so-called good life.
On not reading reviews:
I don’t read the reviews, because it’s some kind of backhanded compliment or something focusing on not the main point. It was really difficult to do this. It would be difficult to make a proposition this simple for any designer. So many people told me that it had to have logos or it had to have this, but I fought for exactly what I wanted in my closet. I fought for what was true to me.
On handling the long wait at the show:
I wasn’t looking at the clock or in charge of that. It’s literally my first proposition in three years. So I apologize for the wait, to the people that had to actually wait at the New York fashion show. I apologize to the kids that had to wait in the 42 theaters where we streamed the show across the globe, I apologize to them for the wait. Let me just explain something to everyone. I’m sorry. I’m a human being.
On the odds being in his favor and not the other way around:
People say, “Hey, Kanye, you’re going against all odds.” And I say, wait a second, the shoes sold out within the first 10 minutes. 9,000 shoes. So everyone, the odds are with me. The people are with me. Now it’s up to you to choose whether or not I’m chic enough to sit at your dinner table. And I could give a fuck about your dinner table, by the way. I’ve got my own petrified Rick Owens table in my house. Is that chic enough?
On his inspirations (Kanye has a Tumblr?!):
You guys know my fucking influences. I've got four influences and it’s written all over the face, you know the combination. Just as much as Drake is influenced by Kanye West, you know my fucking influences. You see Raf Simons right there, you see Helmut, you see Margiela, you see Vanessa [Beecroft], you see Katharine Hamnett. It’s blatantly right there. I’m not going to try and act like I was influenced by a fucking dog walking down the street that broke its ankle that I had a heartfelt discussion with. I had a heartfelt discussion with all of these fucking Helmut Lang images that I stared at for so many years. I had a heartfelt discussion with my Tumblr.
How his life has inspired his designs:
With my first collections, they would say, “I want to see more of you.” And I didn’t even know who I was. And it was far less defined who I was, and I didn’t know who I was until I had a daughter. And then I realized that the purpose of life was to protect her and my wife at all costs. And that is who I am.
On Ralph Lauren, who gave his own legendary interview to Dirk Standen a while back:
Ralph is the god. And that’s all I want to say about Ralph.
On the Gap:
One of my dreams was to be the head creative director of the Gap. I’d like to be the Steve Jobs of the Gap. ... When I say Steve Jobs of the Gap, as I talk to the people at the Gap right now [leans into tape recorder], I’m not talking about a capsule. I’m talking about full Hedi Slimane creative control of the Gap is what I would like to do. And I can say this because it doesn’t conflict with my Adidas contract. [laughs]
On Jean Touitou and the A.P.C. x Timberland debacle:
Racism is a distraction to humanity. Jean Touitou is one of the most humane people I know. Jean Touitou had my family have dinner with him every time we came to Paris. And there are a lot of people who own fashion companies who didn’t.
