An illustrious sneaker association between Adidas and Kanye "Ye" West, the creator of the Yeezy line, is coming to an end, capping off a turbulent few weeks.
After donning a “White Lives Matter” shirt during Paris Fashion Week and making numerous antisemitic remarks in recent weeks, the German brand informed FN that it would no longer collaborate with Ye.
“Adidas rejects all forms of hate speech, including antisemitism. The company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect, and fairness are violated by Ye’s recent words and actions, which are inappropriate, hurtful, and dangerous, according to the statement.
“After carefully considering all options, the company has decided to immediately sever its collaboration with Ye, stop making Yeezy-branded products, and stop paying Ye and his enterprises. The adidas Yeezy business will end immediately at adidas.
Given the strong seasonality of the fourth quarter, Adidas stated that the decision was anticipated to have a short-term negative impact on the company’s net income of up to €250 million in 2022.
Adidas affirmed that it is the only owner of all design rights to already-produced items, as well as to earlier and later colorways created for the collaboration.
In its upcoming third-quarter earnings report, the business will disclose more details.
Adidas had recently come under increasing pressure to sever ties with the rapper-turned-designer as Ye intensified his anti-Semitic remarks on social media and in interviews.
Adidas had put the Yeezy collaboration under review on Oct. 6 after Ye continually criticised the company for allegedly duplicating his designs, not giving him enough control over his products, and failing to create Yeezy storefronts, among other complaints. Soon after West’s contentious Yeezy SZN 9 fashion show, where he was photographed sporting a black long-sleeved T-shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” printed on the back, the review was published.
On Friday, Balenciaga announced that it was cutting ties with Ye.
Adidas’s projection for 2022 was lowered last week before it parted ways with Yeezy. A decrease in traffic from Greater China, a buildup of inventory due to weaker demand in Western markets, increased promotional activity, and a number of one-time expenses that will have an impact on the company in the second half of the year are all taken into account in the revised projection.
Although Adidas does not disclose Yeezy sales figures, Morningstar analyst David Swartz believes the company earns close to $2 billion annually from the brand. Swartz anticipates that this year’s total Adidas sales will reach $23 billion, making Yeezy sales close to 10% of the total.
