Kanye West has been all but exiled from the fashion industry, but his work still does numbers for adidas and even turned the brand’s massive losses around.
According to SGB Media, the German sports giant’s recent sell-off of the now-discontinued Yeezys gave the brand a boost by 85 percent.
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Despite this sounding like an impressive number, adidas is still posting a loss for the second quarter, with more than $491million in losses for the brand. However, Yeezy sales (which have jumped up due to huge demand for the product) saved adidas from a much larger initial loss of $764million.
“We are happy with the way the second quarter developed,” said adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden in a statement to the outlet. “The core adidas business was slightly better than we expected. […] The sale of the first part of the Yeezy inventory did of course help both our top and bottom line in the quarter.”
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Despite Kanye West’s myriad of issues, Yeezys are still a huge moneymaker for the “Stronger” rapper.
In June, Ye reportedly pocketed $25million from adidas in just 24 hours after leftover Yeezy stock from the pair’s dysfunctional partnership flew off the shelves.
The first of three drops planned for “Yeezy Day 2023” were reportedly a roaring success, with most of the available Yeezy stock being purchased quickly. Instagram account @Kanyewestaurant_ claimed that over 682,300 pairs of Yeezy sneakers were purchased, which would allegedly equate to a $25million payday for Kanye West.
Ye and adidas had reached an agreement about the remaining Yeezy stock back in February, with the hopes that selling off the remaining items would allow the athletic company to make up for the massive projected loss it reported earlier this year.
The brand directly blamed Ye for the financial loss stemming from their severed partnership, which so far is estimated to be around $1.3billion in 2023. adidas had previously claimed in November it was going to repurpose said designs under a different name, though that didn’t end up happening.
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“We are currently not performing the way we should,” Gulden wrote in a statement at the time, adding 2023 will serve as a transitional year for the company.
The German sports giant severed ties with Kanye West last year after the mogul made a string of antisemitic remarks in interviews and across social media.
