Yeezys for beginners
Sometimes in life, things just pass you by. You miss the boat or in other words are totally oblivious. It happens to the best of us and is nothing to be ashamed of. Luckily, at Laced we understand how this can quite easily happen and are here to fill you in. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past five years, you might be pondering the question ‘What are Yeezys?’ Yeezy is a fashion label and streetwear brand owned and created by Chicago born rapper Kanye West. The Yeezy brand has had relative success releasing apparel through its many seasons, the first of which Yeezy Season 1 launched in October 2015. The brand is most commonly known for its partnership with German sportswear brand Adidas.
Since 2015, Kanye West has been designing shoes for the Three Stripes, and has seen massive success growing the Adidas Yeezy product line. This partnership came about after Kanye West cut ties with Adidas’ biggest rival Nike. For whom he had already collaborated on a number of footwear releases under the name Nike Air Yeezy. Kanye expressed frustration over Nike’s unwillingness to change, likening the Swoosh to Obama: “perfect” but “not really going to change anything”. Further accusing Nike CEO Mark Parker of being unwilling to pay West royalties on the sales of his designs. In contrast, West described Adidas’ CEO as being “someone who allowed me to build something”.
What are Yeezys?
The term Yeezys on its own of course refers to the footwear produced by Kanye West and Adidas. That has seen a number of successful silhouettes hit shelves. The debut product in the Yeezy line was the Adidas Yeezy Boost 750 which was first released back in February 2015. Since then there are been a series of numerically labelled Yeezy Boost models from the popular 350, 500 to the most recent 700. The Boost in the title refers to the Adidas Boost technology that is the cushioning system deployed in all these shoes.
The popularity of the shoes is what has turned the brand into something culturally significant. A combination of Kanye Wests personality and clever marketing has made the Yeezy brand, THE brand for 2019s ‘Sneakerheads’. Meaning simply collectors and footwear enthusiasts appreciate these designs to such a degree that they are willing to queue for days or pay obscene amounts for the opportunity to own a pair.
Why is it called Yeezy?
The name Yeezy comes from Kanye Wests nickname Yeezy. Which most attribute to the popularity of adding ‘Yeezy’ to a rappers name in the early 2000s. For example, Lil Wayne is nicknamed Weezy. Some more in-depth analysis suggests that Yeezy is a variant of the name ‘Yeezus’ which Kanye West gave himself. Like his mentor, Jay-Z nicknamed himself J-Hov derived from Jehovah, the Hebrew name for god. West created a nickname in a similar way. A theory which has since been supported by Kanye Wests music which frequently refers to him as a god.
Why are Yeezys so popular?
The popularity of these shoes is majority down to the clever marketing of them. Meaning each release is highly limited, thus keeping demand way above the available supply. Which in itself fuels the hype surrounding each product’s release. People always want something no one else has and Yeezys give you the opportunity to do that. Yeezys are more about status than design, that is the key to their popularity.
You can find your dream Yeezys using Laced’s online trainers platform.
