The Yeezy Boost is the most sought after shoe in the world, selling out almost immediately after their release. The master mind behind these shoes is 39 year old, Atlanta native and multimillion dollar rap star, Kanye West. I’m sure you know what Yeezy’s are, anyone who knows even minimal about shoes or Kanye West knows that these shoes are very expensive and hard to obtain due to rapid selling out and the limited number of models made. Kanye has created many different color ways and designs, but where did it all start? How did the price of Yeezy’s overtake the price of retro Jordan’s? How did “Yeezy jump over jumpman?”
When you think of Yeezy’s you probably think of the brand Adidas, however the first shoe released by Kanye was a collaboration with Bape, a Japanese clothing line. The shoe was the Bape signature “Bapesta” and feature Kanye West’s “Drop out Bear” a signature logo from his earlier albums. The shoe was released in 2007, in very limited quantities, and they still remain elusive to this day.
His next two releases came in 2009, but he had switched from the company “Bape” to the high end company “Louis Vuitton,” and the athletic company, “Nike.” The shoes was named “Louis Vuitton Don” and the “Air Yeezy One.” Each had three colorways, and were very expensive. The “Louis Vuitton Don” sold out fairly quickly, but the “Air Yeezy One” took more time than expected for Kanye fans to buy the shoe, however others were excited about the release. The “Louis Vuitton Don” costs between 990 and 1,140 dollars, while the “Air Yeezy One” costs around 215 dollars when released, but since the number of models made was so low, they now resell for around 1,000 dollars.
Kanye’s next release didn’t come until 2012, where he released the second version of the shoe “Air Yeezy” and as you can probably guess, it was called the “Air Yeezy Two.” These were his best shoes yet, being worn by NBA athletes and A-list celebrities on the red carpet. The shoe sold out quickly, only costing 245 dollars, but just like the “Air Yeezy One,” there was limited models made, bring the resell price of the shoe much higher than the original price. Three colorways of this shoe were released, two coming in 2012 and one releasing in 2014, due to Yeezy’s departing with Nike, and transitioning to Adidas.
When Kanye first collaborated with Adidas, they celebrated the partnership by releasing the “Yeezy Boost 750.” This shoe showed more creative freedom from Kanye, which is the reason many believed that he departed from Nike. The first released of this shoe happened in October of 2016. This shoe is still pricey, but is more common than his previously released shoes. Before the “Yeezy Boost 750” the “Yeezy Boost 350,” was released in the summer of 2015. The “750’s” costed about 350 dollars, and came in three colorways. The “350’s” costed about 220 dollars, and came in 9 colorways, releasing in two separated versions. The second version having “Supply 350” on the side. Both types of shoes resell for around 1,200 dollars on sites like Flight Club and Stock X.
Kanye has had a very successful career as a rapper and as a shoe designer. He’s made a lot of designs and colorways and I’m sure more will be released in the future. I hope I can get my hands on a pair, only if I had a thousand dollars. Maybe I’ll try and cop the next Yeezy release.
Cited sources:
“Tis the Yeezy Season: A Look Back at Kanye West’s Footwear Feats.” HYPEBEAST. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2017.
KLEKT.in. “The Complete History Of Yeezy.” Everything You Should Know About The Yeezy History. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2017
“Adidas Yeezy.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 May 2017. Web. 10 May 2017.