Why is Kanye failing with fashion?

[Unknown Poster]

Because he didn't go to brothers like Karl Kani or FUBU to see how to make his clothes work but trying so hard to kiss ass to kats who don't give 2 fukks about him.

I agree. But I think they kind of are pestered by him cause he presents a threat to the industry in little ways.

Here in NYC, I notice the hood brands are starting to emulate/copy high fashion brands because of rappers.

And I've definitely noticed an uptick of black people getting involved in the fashion industry and wearing high fashion.

Even though Rick Owens said he didn't listen to rap, he said he appreciated rappers wearing his clothes.

Obviously he noticed the trend and I forget what year it was @koven maybe you can refresh my memory but he had a runways how with NOTHING but black models and loud hip-hop music. And seeing as how Rick is on that avant garde shyt, many of his fans did not like it. Before, his runway shows were filled with nothing but white models.

I wish we supported more black owned and operated brands, but to me there's always been this punk rock "fukk you" element to black people wearing high fashion. Kind of like the Lo-Lifes and how they stole Polo from department stores in teh 80s.

Anything that disrupsts the racist elitist hegemony of the high fashion industry is a no-no.

But those designers realize how much black people fukk with their stuff and I notice have tried to market towards them.

Like when I see dopeboys wearing giuseppi zannotti sneakers or balmain jeans, I think that shyt is fresh.

 

[folasade]

High fashion in general is too much of a niche market. Yes, he can sell out of of a "limited" supplies of items, but it can still be a failure if you don't break even on how much it took to make them. Really, if he wants to do high fashion, he should at least have a more accessible line to fund his dream.


That said, his clothes are highly overpriced and trash, and he doesn't have an eye for women's clothing.

 

[Unknown Poster]

His APC collab sold out within a few days, his shoes sold out within a few days, his pop-up shops are about to sell out, his clothing line sold pretty well, he just hasn't given himself a niche or been able to move past the hype-based popularity.
Rich white kids love his shyt, if he pushed that DW women's wear line into a luxury evening wear line, and actually sold luxury clothing and accessories, he could slowly gain the recognition of an established fashion house.
shyt, it took Thom Browne like 5 years just to get recognised and he hasn't even reached his peak yet. Most major fashion guys cut their teeth on established lines.

Thom Browne is one of my favorite designers BTW.
Next to Rick and Raf and Yohji Yahamoto.


He does need to venture into women's couture, but make it respectable. I feel like whenever he's showing off the womens line, the pieces are functional and it's more so eye candy for men. He needs to step back and take tips for Alexander McQueen and Thierry Mugler on how to make proper women's clothing.

 

[Kalik]

2 of my 3 sons wearing that distressed, Kanye hole shirt.

But they get em from Pacsun and shyt. Have no clue what brand. It aint Ye.

But its affordable and thats what matters to a teenager.

 

[FaTaL]

I had to ask this.

You know I am one of the biggest Ye stans on here, but I can't holkd my breath anymore. He needs to stop with this shyt.

Here is the thing. Kanye is good at wearing other people's stuff and making those items a hot item and highly sought after.

Kanye is good at putting his name behind products so they go for hotcakes.

His fashion line howevere?

Yeezy season 2 was cancelled/delayed
Yeezy season 3 was shown at MSG, but where and when is it coming out

And now Yeezy season 4 will be showing in September during NYFW.

As a designer myself, I really want to see this dude succeed but I don't even know what he's doing or what he's trying to do.

Is he trying to compete with the Saint Laurents, LVs, and Gucci's of the world? If so....that's never going to happen.

Is he trying to compete with Alexander Wang, Raf Simons, Rick Owens, and these designers? If so, not going to happen.

Is he trying to be HBA or something along the lines of one of those VFILES brands? If so, that's more realistic.

His sneakers sell out because at this point he's known for sneakers. His ,most successful fashion ventures have been with Nike and Adidas.

The clothes however, don't believe the hype, most of it is selling terribly.

Why didn't Pastelle come out? And why did he entrust the future of Pastelle to Ian Connor...who then sold two Pastelle jackets on grailed for $3000 each?

Why did he spend 53 million on trying to get established when more famous designers started for less?

He will always be known for music more than anything else...but I don't think he knows what he's doing at this point.

cause hes trying to do it too quick, building a brand like his clothing takes years

he should of started really small and let it grow over the years, instead its going to collapse

 

[TooLazyToMakeUp1]

Overinvested and tried to bulldoze himself to the top of a narrow market

His fame and cartoon antics don't do him any favors

I would say that his line is ugly, but the art and fashion circles are weird like that, so I don't know what looks "good" and what doesn't

 

[Kyle C. Barker]

Sell clothing only useful on Star Wars sets breh

There you have it

 

[thekingsmen]

I agree. But I think they kind of are pestered by him cause he presents a threat to the industry in little ways.


I wish we supported more black owned and operated brands, but to me there's always been this punk rock "fukk you" element to black people wearing high fashion. Kind of like the Lo-Lifes and how they stole Polo from department stores in teh 80s.

Anything that disrupsts the racist elitist hegemony of the high fashion industry is a no-no.

But those designers realize how much black people fukk with their stuff and I notice have tried to market towards them.

Like when I see dopeboys wearing giuseppi zannotti sneakers or balmain jeans, I think that shyt is fresh.

1. He isn't a threat, he is domesticated by Kim.
2. Lo-Lifes made it popular in the hood to wear that ish though. You seen it nowhere until those brothers were rocking it.
3. I agree but Kayne is trying to merge and get into business with those who have their brands in high profit. They see that riding their backs to get where they are at.
4. Black People can create their own lane, once they realize their fashion, is the reason people are buying clothes. They wouldn't have to go to some Elitist White Boy who thinks he shyts golden bricks.

 

[Stacks]

Kanye is the male version of Beyonce.

Peopel want to be like him, but can't.
People want to be associated with him
People want his co-sign
People want to soak up his greatness.

He combines the egotical pompousness of Michael Jordan with the star power of Michael Jackson.

On the contrary, I think he's one of the best dressers out there period.

There are sometimes I see pictures of him in concert and the man doesn't even seem like a man to me...but a god. Or the closest thing to a god there is.

This is not a man, this is a god!

I remember when Yeezus came out and straight up I would be having conversations with randoms over cigarettes with my freinds and this gay white dude joined in and said "Kanye is transcending the lines between everything and anything possible"

Like that picture is brilliance right there.

The Yeezus tour was beyond a tour, it was like theatre.

Kanye West reminds me of Phillip Seymour Hoffman's character is Synedoche, New York....pulling us along for something but has us waiting for eons.

Say what you want about him but Kanye west to me represents the black man, the black struggle, black excellence, and why society is drawn to us.

you're such a bytch

"This is a god!" Bet you hold Kanye above your parents

 

[Unknown Poster]

Because he sucks at designing clothes.
He sucks.

No really.

He sucks.
I can't stress this shyt enough. He's awful.

Literally the only thing that people generally like of his are whatever long ass sweater or hoody he comes up with...because short of having epaulettes or a fukkin reindeer on it...it's nearly impossible to fukk up a goddamn hoody.

Everything else he "designs" is garbage.

I question really how "involved" Kanye is on the design process of everything.

Is he actually in the studios where the boards and sketches are being drawn? Is he actually choosing what material to use and what factories to have everything made at? Or does someone else do it and he says "yes" or "no"
to whatever he's shown?

 

[Unknown Poster]

lol i have one of those shirts

My dude got the blue hoodie. It actually looks better in person.

I like the cholo font. I actually dig Kanye's merch, but the Yeezus merch was the best. Especially with the heavy metal influence.

 

[Unknown Poster]

Yeah but the people buying that shyt are hypebeasts. Outside of a couple thousand people buying those pieces there isn't much demand for hype shyt or fringe couture clothing and most of the time it's designed scarcity anyway. I'm assuming OP is asking why this shyt isn't super mainstream and profitable, tbh I don't know what he defines as "sucess"

So far, Yeezy Season 1 has released. Sold out in retailers around NYC, but in other areas, I don't think so. I think the number one problem was the pricing.

Cause I notice now, it's not about loud clothing/streetwear like the last decade, it's more minimalistic fashion, more layering, more reapproriation of past motifs. Fashion is anything goes right now.

Kanye confuses me himself with his intentions for his brand...he says he wants it to be available on a wider scale, then only releases limited amounts that seem to go primarily to bots and resellers. But I know what he's doing...as his brand continues to rise he wants the demand for his clothes to rise with it.

He's premiering Season 4 at NYFW in the next couple of weeeks, until I remembered that season 2 was delayed and season 3 has yet to be released...so we only have Season 1 to go by.

It's obvious Kanye doesn't want his brand to be mainstream. I respect that. But his clothes aren't selling as well as people thought. If he adjusted the pricepoint, he would be more successful. Just because something is priced as luxury doesn't mean it's luxury.

I mean compare the quality on a Yeezy sweater to that of Visvim or even your regular Reigning Champ fleece. Not the same.

 

[Unknown Poster]

Kanye has the most coveted and re sold shoes on the sneaker market.

He has totally influenced the fashion game, Leather joggers, distressed Jeans, longline T shirt.

He has reinvented the Artist Merchandise game

Kanye isn't playing the game you are talking about. He is not trying to mass produce fast fashion. He is trying to make quality pieces like High fashion designers and He's doing it on his own.

I agree!

Now Bieber ripped off his merch steez with his "Sorry" tour merchandise. Rihanna is doing the same thing with her "Anti-" tour merch.

As far as sneakers go, you are absolutely correct.

I'd say that the top 3 most sought after sneakers are:

1. Nike Mag
2. Nike Air Yeezy 1
3. Nike Air Yeezy 2

that's not even counting the Jaspers for LV or any of his adidas sneakers.

WE could even see it with the Red octobers. After the were released, how many sneakers have we seen released that were all red? TONS

Even after he left nike for adidas, Nike put the yeezy colorways on so many sneakers, from teh Foamposites to Dunk sb Highs.

Ye isn't trying to be H&M. Or uniqlo. Or Topshop. HE wants his brand to be just Yeezy

 

[Cat piss martini]

Sell clothing only useful on Star Wars sets breh

Thread..

 

[tater]

I saw a story with a 20 year old chinese dude who bought 100 pairs of yeezy 750s. 100 pairs.

This is what I mean. I looked it up and supposedly they only made 5000 pairs. One man bought 5% of the entire stock. They don't make that many which contributes to them selling out so quickly and their exclusivity. These are the people he's appealing to. Collectors...not the average shopper.