A couple of weeks ago in mid February, Madison Square Garden was packed full to the brim with fashion designers, reporters and A list celebrities, as well as a small number of extremely hard core fans who managed to purchase tickets. The show of course, was Kanye West’s launch of Yeezy Season 3/The Life of Pablo.
With tickets selling out in less than ten minutes (breaking all previous records for the world’s biggest stage), and models including Naomi Campbell and Young Thug, the launch smoothly showcased Kanye’s recent embodiment of his Adidas line. Switching it up seamlessly from newly acclaimed fashion designer to the “greatest rapper of all time” (his words, but who are we to judge?), Kanye, for the third time, managed to boost Adidas’ brand potential tenfold.
Not only does he bring a new look to the apparel company, but with this comes a new generation of buyers. Hard core sneaker fans and hard core rapper fans have been noted as two groups who will make every effort to purchase items from their favourite icons.
The biggest example is of course the Jordan sneaker, with deadstock kicks selling for thousands of pounds and dollars worldwide. However, when you combine the two factors and create a product that has the stamp of both an extremely successful and popular brand AND an artist with a staggeringly large and loyal fan base, the results are insane.
As was predicted, the Yeezy Boost, being one of the centrepieces of Kanye’s collection was an immediate hit with sneakerheads, fashionistas, and the usual hypebeasts desperate to purchase. Releasing at around £200 when the drop first went live, Kanye’s trainers were sold out within minutes just like his show. They are now available to purchase from resellers ranging from £800 to £3000, if you’re lucky to find somebody who wants to sell.
So what does this mean for Adidas, a long time rival of Nike? Nike has its major sponsorships, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods and Christiano Ronaldo just to name a few world class athletes that tie their name to the company. According to Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer “this was an Adidas weekend.” Discussing the apparel release and album drop in an interview with Fortune, the head of the German company goes on to say that “it was all about Adidas.”
In terms of revenue, and sales figures, it appears that the sports apparel company has something to shout about. After being conceived as ‘stale’ when compared to Nike, Adidas is now enjoying a 17% rise in global revenue. A record breaking first quarter increase for the corporation, this follows the imminent success of the flagship Adidas Originals Brand, again with sponsorships from West, and Pharell.
The lifestyle brand is boosted again by the music/celebrity/fashion hype that trendsetters will always go for, adding still more power to the force that is Kanye West. Add this to his marriage to Kim Kardashian, a fashionista in her own right, and the incredible following that her and her sisters share and the results are explosive.
Adidas still has to work to keep up with Nike, with substantial gaps in their projected revenues for the year 2020, (Nike is aiming for $50bn whilst Adidas is hanging back at $22bn) but the power of the recent sponsorship of Kanye west is undeniable. It’s worth watching to see what the collaboration brings to us next.
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