Kanye West on that adidas Originals Collection, Fashion Democracy and Racism

Kanye West on that adidas Originals Collection, Fashion Democracy and Racism

After showing his latest fashion collection to the world, Kanye West sat down with Style.com for an interview, offering plenty of insights into his designs and talking at length about fashion elitism and racism.

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Kanye West stepped into the limelight at the recent New York Fashion Week, thanks to his collaboration with adidas Originals (Image via LA Times)

Kanye West has had a busy schedule, from working on music with Paul McCartney and Rihanna, to commenting on how Beck shouldn’t have won the Grammys, and finally, the unveiling of the adidas Yeezy Boost along with the rest of the collaborative fashion collection.

After the dust settled, Style.com conducted an in-depth interview with West that examined the origins of his adidas Originals collection.They first talked about his arduous journey through the world of fashion, where West admitted that even though he wasn’t given free reign to do as he pleased, he found a workaround that didn’t compromise on his ideals.

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“They put some boundaries, but solutions come from boundaries. I stepped in, we had to learn [to work with] each other. I had to learn what my voice was because I was still coming off of doing crocodile this and almost irresponsible takes on designing clothes to make up for a lack of skill. And now I have a real purpose to what I want to present,” West said.

Sneakerheads were in for a treat when the adidas Yeezy Boost was unveiled recently

Sneakerheads were in for a treat when the adidas Yeezy Boost was unveiled recently

Proving that pretentiousness is not part of his vocabulary, West named Raf Simons, Maison Margiela, Vanessa Beecroft and Katharine Hamnett as his influences. “I’m not going to try and act like I was influenced by a fucking dog walking down the street that broke its ankle that I had a heartfelt discussion with,” he added. West also pointed out that his partnership with adidas was the beginning of something big and truly democratic.

Speaking of democracy, West’s outspoken nature was omnipresent throughout the interview as he spoke out against the notion of elitism in the fashion world and how there needs to be a different approach. “I hate the concept of limited edition completely. I hate the concept of separatism. Elitism. Classism. We’re all equal. The only thing that’s valuable is time. It’s the only thing we can’t get back. The only luxury is time. Let’s stop playing games with each other and let’s start helping each other,” he said.

Aiming to make his collection as accessible to as many people as possible, West cited brands such as Zara and H&M as examples of game-changers that took away some of the separation and elitism that plagued the fashion industry.

Instead of a traditional runway, models for the Kanye West x adidas Originals collection came out in full force and stood in rows like an army on a parade ground (Image via New York Post)

Instead of a traditional runway, models for the Kanye West x adidas Originals collection came out in full force and stood in rows like an army on a parade ground (Image via New York Post)

The interview soon led to a question about the lack of black designers in fashion, and West took the opportunity to air his views on racism in his response, promptly calling it a distraction to humanity. “It would be like focusing on the cousin from your mom’s side versus the cousin on your dad’s side. We’re all cousins. We’re all the same race…we came into a broken world. And we’re the cleanup crew. And we’re only cleaning up by helping each other,” he said.

Like him or loathe him, Kanye West has stepped up to the plate to challenge the critics who turned their back on him and at the same time, laid down his views about fashion and the world in general.

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