It has only been a few months since Adidas cut ties with Kanye West and the company is reportedly already preparing to start releasing its former Yeezy Supply models without the rapper’s branding. Alleged photos of the rebranded Adidas 350 V2 model hit Twitter, setting the trending topics abuzz with users weighing in on the move. The overwhelming sentiment appears to be that without the Kanye co-sign, the 350s could end up being DOA when they supposedly hit shelves early next year.
Adidas will be moving forward with releasing Yeezy designs without the Yeezy branding in 2023. The first pair will be the Adidas 350 V2 “Granite” releasing January 2023, retailing for $230 dollars pic.twitter.com/eQTcgv9n0h
— Ovrnundr (@Ovrnundr) December 19, 2022
Kanye’s partnership with Adidas hit the skids sometime over the past year, with the rapper using his social media to criticize Adidas employees, including former CEO Kasper Rørsted and Vice President Daniel Cherry. He called the Adilette Slide a “fake Yeezy” despite some pretty obvious cosmetic differences, and even called out the brand for its Yeezy Day promotion going ahead without his approval — approval industry sources say he refused to give unless his demand to be installed as CEO was granted. When he started making antisemitic comments on social media and in interviews, claiming a cabal of Jews controlled the world economy, Adidas put the partnership under review. In the end, Kanye was sent packing with 100 percent of his brand but none of the designs, which Adidas created with its own resources and some input from Kanye. As it turns out, that brand may not be worth much at this point.
$230 without Ye himself not even associated & the Yeezy branding removed.
I speak for everyone when I say we will NOT be buying https://t.co/7LHi85dmoc
— Ye Streams (@kanyestreams1) December 19, 2022
gonna be interesting to see if ppl buy the “off-brand” yeezys lol. esp given the fact that a lot of ppl say that yeezy was the only reason the shoes sell (def true for the 350s lol) https://t.co/DoEeok6X07
— sapphic wasian boy (@screennamexxi) December 19, 2022
$230???? Bro people weren’t buying Yeezy because it was Adidas it was because it was attached to Kanye LMAO he’s not there anymore people are not about to be buying this shit surely right??
I definitely won’t at this price point. Comfiest shoes I’ve ever owned but not $230 comfy https://t.co/AI74GKetku
— Optimus (@SubToOptimus) December 20, 2022
It was later revealed that throughout the partnership, Kanye had behaved extremely unprofessionally, bullying employees, harassing them with porn, and otherwise terrorizing anyone who had to work with him. Although Yeezy Supply brought in at least a billion dollars annually, in the end, Adidas seems better off without him — and if the 350s don’t sell, something tells me they’ll be just fine without them.