Maybe Kanye West’s sneakers aren’t for everybody. The imploding multi-hyphenate released two new colorways of popular models last month — the predecessors of which sold out in seconds — and the once-ravenous market responded with a collective shrug.
As reported by HighSnobiety, “YEEZY supply outweighing demand was almost unimaginable after [West’s] hookup with adidas… in February 2015,” even though the designer repeatedly promised to “bring YEEZYs to the masses.” However, now that he’s getting closer to fulfilling that goal, “people aren’t talking about it as much as [most] would have predicted.”
As the story notes, “widespread availability clashes with the idea of a limited release model,” and his last two offerings — the Cream 350 V2 and the Mauve 700 — were such bricks that they “sat [for days] in adidas’ YEEZY webstore before being pulled.” Currently, those in the market for either pair can find them on StockX for less than their retail price.
“West’s products have always been driven by scarcity and the subsequent high resale value,” one analyst said. And now that scarcity is being removed from the equation, the value is suffering.
Also contributing to the decline in popularity, the story speculates, is West’s recent alt-right turn. According to one analyst, it’s probably not helpful that his “fans don’t [always] support what he’s doing.”
You can read more about it at Highsnobiety.
