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What Are Kanye West’s Plans With SAS (San Antonio Shoemakers)?

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In the midst of Kanye West’s ongoing battles with Gap and Adidas, it looks like there are still some brands willing to roll the dice with the mercurial producer. To be fair, his popularity has seemingly continued despite his becoming better known for controversy, so of course, brands hope to enjoy the halo effect of that.

While launching a deluge of Instagram posts criticizing Adidas on Monday, Kanye also enigmatically posted the “SAS” logo of San Antonio Shoemakers with a happy face emoticon — yes, that’s emoticon, not emoji. Apparently, Kanye is posting from 2009. SAS is a Texas-based comfort shoe brand that primarily competes with Clarks, ECCO, and New Balance for a market demographic that mostly consists of senior citizens, who are decidedly not Kanye’s core audience.

So, what are Kanye West’s plans with SAS?

On Monday, Kanye also posted, “What shoe company will give me control? I need to be the head of the board and the chief decision maker.” It’s likely that Kanye believes that the company would be amenable to these terms — terms he says his current footwear partner Adidas, which handles the manufacture of his Yeezy brand, are not. Kanye has argued that when he partnered with Adidas — likely more of a licensing situation — he was promised Yeezy brick-and-mortar stores and a spot on the board. Obviously, with Kanye acting so erratically lately, that’s a gamble few companies are willing to take.

According to the San Antonio Express-News, in response, the company said, “We sincerely appreciate the interest Ye (Kanye West) has expressed towards our company and look forward to continuing the conversation around a potential collaboration.” For what it’s worth, SAS has been shifting its focus, hoping to expand to a younger demographic. We’ll see if they believe working with Kanye is worth the headaches. to get it.

Kanye West Can’t Stop Pulling Kid Cudi Into His Ongoing His Feud With Adidas

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Earlier this year, a great many music and pop culture fans breathed a shared sigh of relief as Kanye West cleared his Instagram after weeks of lashing out at his ex Kim Kardashian and her then-boyfriend Pete Davidson, as well as anyone who tried to defend either of them. For a while, it seemed as though he’d calmed down enough to take rational stock of his behavior, realize he was wrong, and turn over his password to someone else.

Unfortunately, it looks like he didn’t do that last bit and he’s ramped up again, this time setting his sights on business partners like Adidas and Gap. He’s accused Adidas of “stealing” his designs — which are actually teardowns of his hero kicks like the Yeezy Boost and Yeezy Slide — and specifically called out soon-to-be former CEO Kasper Rørsted, celebrating Rørsted’s impending departure with a bad joke on Instagram. Now, he’s got a new target: Rørsted’s apparent successor, Adidas Senior Vice President, and General Manager, Daniel Cherry.

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And, as with so many of his outlandish posts in the past, there’s a collateral recipient of his abuse in Kid Cudi, who Kanye can’t seem to stop pulling into his various feuds despite over a decade’s worth of collaborations between the two. This time, he’s appropriated a photo of Kid Cudi wearing a wedding dress at the CFDA Fashion Awards in late 2021, doing a poor cut-and-paste job to attach Cherry’s head to Cudi’s designer Eli Russell Linnetz, with whom he held hands on the event’s red carpet. West asked his fans to photoshop an Adidas logo onto Cudi’s dress, and they were only too happy to oblige.

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The suggestion is clear and about as trashy as we’ve seen Kanye get lately. It’s kind of sad to see a guy who once confronted his internalized homophobia in a 2005 interview with MTV News dive headfirst into that homophobia because he didn’t read his contract (again). Let’s just hope he manages to get the help he needs when he inevitably implodes again, and this time, someone please, change the man’s passwords.

Kanye West Gives Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted The Pete Davidson Treatment By Also Declaring Him Dead On Instagram

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Kanye West has made many enemies over the last few years, and through all of the drama, at least all seemed well with his creative collaborator Adidas. However, it appears there is some tension in that relationship now as Ye has given Adidas CEO Karper Rorsted the same treatment he gave Pete Davison, by pronouncing him dead on Instagram.

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Kanye West

In a now-deleted post from early Thursday (September 1), the Donda artist posted a New York Times graphic where the front page reads “Karper Rorsted Also Dead At 66.” The sudden anger toward Rorsted likely stems from the fact the Chicago artist claims the company held “Yeezy Day” without his approval back in August, Complex reported.

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Kanye West

He also alleges that Adidas reissued older pairs of his products without his input, hired employees without his input, and slowed down the production of his sneaker collaboration with Balenciaga and Gap despite the fact he was in breach of his contract. If that isn’t enough, West claims he approached Three Stripes to create and distribute more of his popular Yeezy Slides, only for the brand to say “they didn’t have the capacity” only to copy his design and make the Adilette 22 Slides.

Kanye West cannot seem to avoid controversy or pushing people away, so time will tell how the relationship will continue as the situation unfolds.

Check out Kanye’s Instagram post about Karper Rorsted above.

Why Is Kanye West Upset With Adidas And Gap?

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Kanye West is rapidly becoming as well known for this growing list of enemies as he is for his music. What has been even more notable, however, has been just who he’s added to that list, which previously included musical rival Drake and now includes his former protege Kid Cudi and romantic rival Pete Davidson.

However, while he’s got inscrutable though understandable reasons for all of the above, fans can’t help but be confused as Kanye sets his sights on Adidas and Gap — two corporations with which his Yeezy brand is partnered, contributing to his touted billionaire status. For the past few months, the mercurial producer turned designer has been lashing out at his creative partners, from posting a fake headline trolling Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted to accusing Gap of holding meetings about him without him.

So, why is Kanye so upset with Adidas and Gap?

The crux appears to be Kanye’s expectations of his partnerships with these companies and how they have failed to meet them in his eyes. In June, he posted an angry Instagram, calling Adidas’ Adilette 22 slides “fake Yeezys” for being too similar to the Yeezy slides. Then, in early August, he DMed Complex on Instagram, telling the account’s admin that he hadn’t approved Adidas’ Yeezy Day campaign. Meanwhile, fans were dumbfounded when he apparently ordered Gap store employees to yank his Yeezy collection from their shelves and hangers to present them in large, black garbage bags.

Now, he’s expressing plans to open his own independent Yeezy brand stores — something he said they are contractually obligated to do, but refuse to. Basically, he’s unhappy that both companies have made products that are similar in form and function to Yeezy designs while also following traditional business models in lieu of following his more radical intentions.

It remains to be seen if the leadership at either company — Rørsted is stepping down as CEO sometime this year — continues to put up with his agitating for very much longer. One thing is sure: Kanye is an unpredictable business partner who isn’t afraid to publicly air his grievances, whether it’s good business or not.

Kanye West Takes Another Swipe At Kid Cudi In A Post Declaring Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted ‘Dead At 60’

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Kanye West may have dialed down his Instagram petty to only celebrating his perceived enemies’ supposed failures, but he’s packing double the vitriol in those posts, often lashing out at two in the same post. His preferred secondary target is Kid Cudi, who he zings in the subheadlines of the bizarre fake New York Times covers he has been posting to strike out at rivals such as Pete Davidson and Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted.

In his latest post, he declares the latter “also dead at 60,” calling back to his post about Pete. In the subheadline, though, he throws two jabs at once, writing, “I know what you’re thinking… who is Kasper? but even less importantly who is Kid Cudi?”

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Actually, I was thinking how badly Kanye needs a copy editor, but I digress. In Kanye’s previous dig at his former artist, Kanye sniped at him for cutting his Rolling Loud set short after fans threw objects onstage. “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers,” he trolled. His latest shot is likely a response he’s been sitting on since Cudi told Esquire he has no plans to reconcile with his former mentor.

“With all due respect, I’m not Drake,” he said. “It’s gonna take a motherf*cking miracle for me and that man to be friends again. I don’t see it happening. He gon’ have to become a monk.” Cudi later clarified that he meant no disrespect to Drake, with whom he previously did have a feud but they’ve since made up.

Kanye’s beef with Rørsted, meanwhile, stems from his belief that the Adidas chief is responsible for the company seemingly distancing itself from Kanye while continuing to use his designs, which is not in any way Kanye’s own fault for acting like a colicky toddler for the past year or so. Rørsted is stepping down as CEO sometime this year. May whoever succeeds him finally drop Kanye so he can enjoy his creative freedom, or whatever.

Lil Nas X Has Some ‘Unexpected’ Collabs On The Way And Teases ‘Something Very Special Coming Really Soon’

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Lil Nas X always has something going on and now he can add another item to the list: He’s the new US ambassador of high-end beauty brand Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. Nas spoke about that in a new interview with Complex, during which he also teased some other things he has coming up.

For one, his new ambassadorship isn’t his only new collab, as the rapper noted, “I have some unexpected things, collaborations coming up. I wouldn’t want to ruin those, though.” He also said, “I do have something very special coming really soon around the time of my tour starting. That’s something I’m super excited about music-wise.”

As for that tour, he described it, “Without giving it away, all I can say is it’s more of a show than it is a concert.”

When it comes to what he hopes fans get from his upcoming music, he’s not quite sure yet: “I wish I could say, but I feel like I won’t even know what this era represents until I’m further along. I’m very much a person that just goes along with the flow and does things as they come. But I’m sure it’s going to be something really special and really exciting.”

He also talked about the new partnership, saying, “Building my brand is an ongoing process as I continue to try new things, but I’m all about having fun, standing out and making a statement, and creating great music. Everything I do is an extension of that, and I’m always looking for ways to break the mold — this partnership with YSL Beauty does that. I thought they were pretty cool and I loved the aesthetic that they were bringing. So I was like, ‘Yeah. Let’s do it.’”

Check out more from the interview here.

Rihanna Offers A Mystery Ketchup Packet Set With Her Unusual New Fenty Beauty Collaboration

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Fenty Beauty is a huge deal for Rihanna, considering it’s a major part of what helped her become a billionaire and the world’s richest female musician. That said, the brand doesn’t always take itself too seriously, as its latest collaboration indicates.

The MSCHF x Fenty Beauty Ketchup Or Makeup is what it sounds like: The set comes with six identical-looking ketchup packets, although they aren’t all filled with ketchup. Some of them are, while the other ones have Fenty’s cherry-colored Gloss Bomb lip gloss in them. The set can be purchased for $25 via ketchupormakeup.com or at a a New York hotdog stand pop-up shop.

The offbeat endeavor is a collaboration with MSCHF, who first came to prominence with the infamous Lil Nas X Satan Shoes in 2021 and also teamed with The Weeknd this year on a version of “Out Of Time” released on a saw blade.

As for Rihanna, she has remained mostly out of the spotlight over the past few months, since she reportedly gave birth to her and ASAP Rocky’s son in May. Meanwhile, in an interview from April, she said of new music, “I’m looking at my next project completely differently from the way I had wanted to put it out before. I think this way suits me better, a lot better. It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

Doja Cat Launches The Website For ‘It’s Giving,’ Her Forthcoming Apparel Collection

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Doja Cat has been up to a lot lately — shaving her head, turning her website into a 16-bit video game world, singing with Post Malone. Now, she’s launching the official website for her forthcoming apparel collection, fittingly called It’s Giving.

Shirts, sweatpants, thongs, trucker hats, socks — you name it and it’s on the site. The designs are colorful and full of personality as one can only expect from someone as provocative as the “Woman” singer. Check out the website at this link.

After receiving comments about her decision to shave her head, Doja took to Twitter to express frustration. “I won a grammy and traveled the f*cking globe i’ve had a #1 and i went platinum,” she wrote. “I make hit after hit after hit and you all want me to look f*ckable for you so that you can go home and jerk your c*cks all day long while you live in your mothers basement. Go f*ck yourselves.” When a Twitter user responded calling her ungrateful, she replied, “you’re so miserable that you have to label yourself as a ‘we’. You aren’t part of any collective. You’re just another asshole that doesn’t know how to read a room.”

Why Is Kanye West Selling Yeezy Clothes Out Of Large Bags?

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Kanye West has been known for some unconventional rollouts in the past, but the way he insisted his latest Yeezy Gap collaboration be sold has even his staunchest fans flabbergasted. Kanye’s latest collection has his clothing clumped together in massive garbage bags on shop floors rather than hung or folded neatly on shelves. A now-viral tweet from a customer asserts that a sales associate explained, “Ye got mad when he saw they had it on hangers and this is how he wanted it. They won’t help you find ur size too, you just have to just dig through everything.”

Naturally, the question on everyone’s minds is: Why? However, it doesn’t appear that an answer is forthcoming. During a recent appearance on Fox & Friends, which normally loves to hate on rappers but seems to be making an exception for the Trump-supporting Kanye, the rebellious rapper said, “Look, man: I’m an innovator, and I’m not here to sit up and apologize about my ideas. That’s exactly what the media tries to do: Make us apologize for any idea that doesn’t fall under exactly the way they want us to think.” Not exactly an answer.

For what it’s worth, Kanye’s sometimes outrageous approach to doing things often flies in the face of tradition, but often becomes standard operating practice down the line. For instance, when he released The Life Of Pablo to streaming services only partially completed in 2016 and spent the next year or so tweaking things to his liking, he angered some fans who believed he was short-changing them. However, in recent months, stars like Lizzo and Beyonce updated their albums post-release to clean up some questionable language when fans protested. Since then, he’s innovated album releases further by putting out Donda 2 exclusively on his stem player device.

Could this spell the end of clothes hangers and dressed-up mannequins at retail? It probably depends on how well this strategy works out. As CNN points out, though, brick-and-mortar stores have been pretty consistently losing business in the face of online shopping, which is much more convenient. Ironically enough, when you buy clothes online, guess how they arrive. That’s right: In a bag.

Kanye West Hops On Fox News To Address Criticism Over His In-Store Presentation Of Yeezy Gap

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For his Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga line of clothing, Kanye West has received some criticism when it comes to the in-store presentation: The items are kept in large, black bags that have been likened by some to trash bags. Now, Ye has addressed the criticism, using a Fox News interview to do so.

On Fox & Friends today (August 18), the show’s Eric Shawn spoke to West at the Gap store in Times Square and asked, “Do you understand some people have felt that putting clothes in bags is insensitive, perhaps, to homeless and other people?” West answered, “Look, man: I’m an innovator, and I’m not here to sit up and apologize about my ideas. That’s exactly what the media tries to do: Make us apologize for any idea that doesn’t fall under exactly the way they want us to think.”

He went on to note, “This is, like, not a joke. This is not a game. This is not just some celebrity collaboration. This is my life, you know? I’m fighting for a position to be able to change clothing and bring the best design to the people.”

Shawn also reported Ye told him his goal was to make clothing that’s “more egalitarian and not as pretentious,” and that people shouldn’t “clown the creators” because that will “make innovators and other designers” “less brave.” Shawn also noted that West wants to “make life easier and informal so that we can all, basically, dress in the dark.”

Check out the interview above.