Wondering if Yeezys are Nike or Adidas? Well, they’re both. It’s just a bit complicated so let’s get into the details of it all.
Yeezys is a joint collaboration between Adidas and the American rapper and entrepreneur Ye (formerly known as Kanye West). Ye has creative control over Yeezys while they are manufactured and sold by the Adidas company.
Yeezy used to be with Nike at first, but as of 2013, the Nike x Yeezy collaboration was discontinued.
With the increasing popularity of Yeezys in the sneakerverse, there is a lot of discrepancy about their ownership. Let’s settle all confusion once and for all!
The Yeezys line of shoes is solely owned and created by Ye (formerly Kanye West). However, the shoes are manufactured and sold under the Adidas company flagship.
So Ye designs the shoes and has 100% ownership of the designs and shoes, while Adidas makes them and sells them under their company name.
Yeezy is a label owned by Ye (Kanye West) with a line of adorned sneakers. All products in the Yeezy line have their own logo.
Currently, Yeezy has a joint collaboration with Adidas. Kanye West has sole ownership and creative rights of the Yeezy brand while Adidas manufactures and sells them at their stores.
Yeezy is solely owned by the American rapper, entrepreneur and celebrity, Ye (known as Kanye West).
However, Adidas controls the sales and manufacturing of the shoes
Yeezy currently has its headquarters in Calabasas, California in the USA. But Kanye West has previously hinted at turning his ranch in Wyoming, Cody into a sample lab for Yeezys.
Kanye West debuted the Yeezy line of shoes with Nike in 2009 with the infamous Air Yeezy 1. This collaboration continued till 2013 whereby Kanye West left Nike and continued his shoe line with Adidas.
After the launch of ‘Red October Air Yeezys 2 in 2013, Kanye West officially ended his collaboration with Nike. This was due to differences with regards to payment of royalties and communication problems.
According to an interview with Charlamagne, Ye claimed that his decision to leave Nike was due to the fact that they refused to pay him royalties for his own shoe and instead wanted him to pay the profits to a charity of his choice.
Another reason was that Ye felt uncomfortable with his relationship with Nike CEO Mark Parker. According to him, the CEO refused to get on the phone with him to discuss any differences they had with regards to the brand philosophy.
Kanye West then moved on to collaborate with Adidas and finally debuted the Adidas x Yeezy collaboration in February 2015. This collaboration has seen the launch of over seven different styles, each one sought after by everyone in the sneakerverse.
adidas Yeezy Boost 380 Shoes
It started with Kanye collaborating with Bape on their Bapesta sneakers. That is where the inspiration to make shoes came for Kanye
It all began in 2009 when Kanye West signed a deal with designer and brand Louis Vuitton to release a line of shoes. These were naturally a huge hit and pioneered the concept of sneakers as a fashion statement.
In April of the same year, the Nike x Yeezy collaboration finally launched their first-ever shoe, the Air Yeezy 1 which sold out almost immediately after release.
After the success of Air Yeezy 1, the collaboration dropped their second shoe of the line- Air Yeezy 2. With only 1500 pairs ever made, the shoes sold out as soon as they hit the market and were loved by Kanye fans and fellow celebrities alike.
The collaboration launched their most-successful sneaker to date, the ‘Red-October’ in 2013. This was also the year when the Nike x Yeezy collaboration ended.
Fun fact: The Red October Yeezys are resold at up to $15,000 now!
Later the same year, the Nike x Adidas collaboration was announced.
adidas Yeezy Boost 750 Triple Black Shoes
The very first shoe of Kanye wests’ collaboration with Adidas, the Yeezy Boost 750 dropped in February 2015, followed closely by the Yeezy Boost 350.
Later in the same year, more colorways of the same silhouette were released and loved by everyone, making the Yeezy Boost 350 ‘Shoe Of The Year’ at Footwear News Annual Achievement Awards.
In the same year, the one and only Yeezy 950 boots were launched in four different colorways- Moonrock, Chocolate, Peyote, and Pirate black.
The revised versions of previous Yeezys, the Yeezy 350 V2, came out in 5 different colorways.
A new Yeezy silhouette, the Yeezy 700 was launched in the colorway ‘Waverunner’. In the same year, more colorways of the Yeezy 350 V2 were released.
Yeezy 700 was launched in the colorway ‘Mauve’ along with yet more colorways of the Yeezy 350 V2.
In 2018, a new Yeezy silhouette, the Yeezy 500 came out in about four different colorways-
Utility Black, Salt, Blush, and Super Moon Yellow.
A rendition of the Yeezy 700s, the Yeezy 700 V2 also came out the same year in the colorway ‘static’.
adidas Yeezy Bone Men's Slides
The year started with the launch of the ‘Inertia’ colorway in the Yeezys 700 followed by yet another 8 colorways in the Yeezy 350 V2 silhouette.
We also saw more of Yeezy 700 V2 and Yeezy 500 as well. It was this year when the Yeezy 500 was launched in the iconic colorway ‘Bone White’.
The Yeezy slides also came out in December of the same year.
This year saw the release of the iconic Yeezy foam runners, Yeezy QTMN, along with V3 editions of Yeezy 700 and Yeezy 350.
So far we have seen the release of a new Yeezy silhouette, the Yeezy 450s, Yeezy D rose, Yeezy 450 slides, Yeezy 380, Yeezy 500 HIGH, Yeezy 700 MNVN, NSLTD BT, Yeezy knit runner boot, and the Yeezy Desert Boot.
Seems like 2021 was quite the year for Yeezys!
