Key Takeaways
- One day after his new YS-01 Slides sold out in seven colorways at JD Sports, Kanye West returned to X to boast that "Yeezy is Apple of clothing," reviving a comparison he first made in a 2020 Wall Street Journal interview.
- The viral post arrives as West pushes Yeezy back into mainstream retail via JD Sports after his Adidas and Gap deals collapsed over his antisemitic remarks.
- West has since issued a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal, cited his bipolar disorder, and met with Rabbi Yoshiayao Yosef Pinto to express remorse for his comments about the Jewish community.
Kanye West has started a discussion with a four-word X post that describes the impact he believes his Yeezy brand has brought to fashion.
On Friday (August 14), one day after he released multiple colorways of the YS-01 Slides, which immediately sold out, Ye took to the social media platform to gloat about his brand, which was founded in 2013.
"Yeezy is Apple of clothing," he wrote.
In a 2020 Wall Street Journal interview, West made the same Apple comparison and also name-dropped McDonalds. "In order to make the Apple of apparel, the next Gap, it has to be a new invention. To invent something that's so good that you don't even get credit for it because it's the norm," West told the publication.
The anticipated JD Sports drop of the YS-01 slides nearly crashed the website on Thursday (August 13), and as Sole Retriever reports, all seven of the shoe's colorways sold out shortly after 10 A.M ET.
The JD Sports partnership represents a calculated push back into mainstream retail for West after the collapse of his former Adidas deal, which ended in October 2022 following the rapper-producer's antisemitic remarks, and the dissolution of his Yeezy Gap collaboration.
In a full-page apology letter posted in WSJ earlier this year, West pointed to having bipolar disorder as reason for his years of offensive remarks. Last November, the Bully artist met with Rabbi Yoshiayao Yosef Pinto to express remorse for his controversial statements about the Jewish community.
Shop Kanye West on Complex here.
