The American rapper has been designing shoes and clothing under the Yeezy brand in collaboration with Adidas since 2015.
(Photo: AP)
Munich Adidas is distancing itself from its longtime partner Kanye West. “After repeated attempts to clarify the situation outside of the public, we decided to put the partnership to the test,” said the Franconian sporting goods company on Thursday evening.
“A successful partnership is based on mutual respect and shared values.” Apparently, Adidas no longer sees this as a given after West repeatedly launched violent attacks against the sporting goods manufacturer. Among other things, the 45-year-old accused the company of copying the design of the “Yeezy” shoes he designed and using it for its own Adidas models.
In the past, West had also called for more influence at Adidas. The company had always remained silent on the allegations. The rapper has been designing shoes and clothing for Adidas since 2015 under the “Yeezy” brand, which generated sales in the billions in the best years.
West receives royalties for this, according to media reports several hundred million dollars a year. The contract runs until 2026. Adidas called the collaboration “one of the most successful collaborations in the history of our industry”. A report from the online portal
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According to insiders, the West group has offered to end the cooperation in exchange for a settlement of one billion dollars. West’s cooperation with the US fashion retailer Gap, which had only been running since 2020, had recently ended prematurely.
At Gap, only the current “Yeezy” collection is to be sold off. It could also come down to this at Adidas: During the review, “we will continue to stock the current products,” the Adidas statement said.
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