Kanye West has turned 44! How the rapper managed to beat fashion

Today, one of the most unusual characters of our time celebrates his 44th birthday. And if for some he is still a rapper with an odd behavior, we know him as one of the most influential people in the fashion world.

Who is Kanye West?

Everyone knows Kanye West by now, but we’ll remind you – he’s a talented musician, producer and designer all in one. He is a father of many children and not yet an established contender for the presidency of the United States. His apt phrases can be put into quotes, and everything he takes on instantly turns into a hype. It’s thanks to him that rappers had to get out of their XXXL baggy clothes and reconsider pink polos. I mean, Kanye has declared himself a God. He builds futuristic cities for the homeless, records timeless hits and dictates fashion.

Kanye’s background is not much different from others – he was an ordinary child, went to school and was fond of music. At the age of five, he was already composing poems, and when he grew up, he started producing artists and writing songs for Beyonce. Labels did not want to work with him – no one perceived him as a solo artist. But West did not stop, and in 2001 he was noticed by Jay-Z. Kanye produced five tracks for The Blueprint album, including Izzo (H.O.V.A) – the same track that became Jay-Z’s first, most sought-after single in the beatmaker genre.

Kanye West

How did he do it?

20 years ago, no one knew Kanye – and it wasn’t until 2004 that people started talking about him. The rapper released his debut album The College Dropout, which won several Grammy nominations. The rapper spent another year and two million dollars on his second album, Late Registration, and was again recognized as a genius. At the same time he took up molds and cutouts and created a line of clothing Pastelle, on which he worked with Virgil Abloh, artist Kaws and the famous brand Bape.

But it was not enough for him, and in 2006 West presented his first collab with Nike – the result of their cooperation was Nike Air Max 180 sneakers.

Two years later, their tandem introduced the iconic The Air Yeezy sneakers – they sold out instantly. The Nike Air Yeezy 1 set two records at once: it became the first sneaker in history to sell for more than $1 million, and the most expensive in the world.

The second release of Nike Air Yeezy 2 Red October sold out even faster. Now on resale sites this pair is sold for 5000 dollars, which is almost half a million rubles.

In 2010, Kanye released the movie Runaway – it included the top tracks from his album My Dark Twisted Beautiful Fantasy. The director and author of the idea of the future trend of music videos-films was, of course, the musician himself. The 35-minute video has everything – music, fashion and art. An impressive team worked on the project – model Selita Ibanks, designer Philip Lim, choreographer Yemi Akunyemi and his ballet group. That’s when West begins to conquer high fashion. Launching his Kanye West collection on the runway of Paris Fashion Week and making connections with big designers. Among them are Phoebe Philo, Riccardo Tisci and Jean Titou – he works with the latter on a joint capsule collection with the A.P.C. brand.

Presentation of the new Yeezy collection

In 2013, West with Titou presented the collaboration, there was such a large influx of customers that the brand’s website simply stopped working. There was nothing special about their capsule – jeans, hoodies, t-shirts and that was it.

Can you imagine what happened when, a year later, they released another joint collection only in an expanded assortment? And then another one just with adidas? Kanye and the German brand’s Yeezy Season 1 release was unveiled in 2015 during New York Fashion Week. The show flashed the same rough solid Yeezy 950 boots, Yeezy Boost 750 suede hightops and Yeezy Boost 350 sneakers.

Loose silhouettes, military-inspired jackets and coats, layered hoodies in monochromatic hues have all changed the way Kanye is viewed in the fashion world.

You can dislike his music and not wear his sneakers, but to deny that this guy is a genius is silly. The designer himself is on the Forbes list, and Yeezy, which is 100% owned by the singer, had an operating income of $214 million in 2020.

So who’s the winner here if not him?