The YEEZY line will not continue, adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden confirms. The line in collaboration with Kanye West, better known as Ye, was discontinued at the end of 2022. In the first months of 2023, the remaining silhouettes were still sold and proceeds went to various charities. In a statement, Gulden now confirms that the line will not be continued.
Charities
Things have been unsettled at adidas headquarters for a while now. Following the split of Ye and adidas, there have been many questions surrounding the remaining YEEZY silhouettes and the German brand's upcoming releases. In recent months, adidas has been releasing the remaining stock and proceeds went to charity.
Earlier in August 2023, the Financial Times announced that adidas had already donated more than $110 million to organizations fighting anti-Semitism. In a statement, Gulden expressed that he was positive about the future and hoped to be back on track in terms of sales by 2025.
“We have inherited a situation that was very unfortunate,” Gulden added. “I think the Yeezy business and the [Nike] Jordan business were the only two collabs in the world that were creating these kind of premiums over a longer period. Our task now is to limit the damage, get rid of the inventory, use the proceeds for good and lead the business without Yeezy.”
The end of YEEZY
Less than a week later after this statement, adidas announces a definitive end to the YEEZY line. In a Retail Dive, Gulden confirms that there is no future between adidas and YEEZY. "The YEEZY product is something that [Ye] created, he’s the inventor of it and we have been his partner. To take his designs and sell them off later, which we technically legally could do, is not part of our strategy", Gulden said.
The YEEZY stock released in the first months of 2023 generated $441 million in sales for the company. With these releases, adidas has sold 20% of the current YEEZY stock. Gulden confirmed that adidas will continue sales of the current stock in 2023, but that the company does not yet know to what extent this will happen.
“The uncertainty on each of these drops is so big and we don’t want to have people believing that we have sales and profits in the pocket", Gulden said.
Keep an eye on our news page for more updates around adidas and YEEZY.
