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Adidas Is Rebranding Yeezys, Kanye West’s Greatest Fear

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Adidas announced on its quarterly results call on November 9 that the business plans to sell further Yeezys as early as next year, although these Yeezys will not have Ye’s signature.

Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has been working with Adidas since 2013, when the two companies first formed a partnership. The relationship, which lasted for nine years, was financially fruitful but fraught with conflict. Following a series of antisemitic comments made by the singer and fashion designer, Adidas severed all relations with him on October 25. This came after he made a number of critical statements to the public.

Ye frequently engaged in public conflict with the management of Adidas, one example of which occurred in June, when he vigorously protested to the firm releasing slides that resembled the Yeezy Slide. He referred to these slides as “a phony YEEZY created by Adidas themselves.”

In response to pictures of the Adidas Adilette slide, he posted on Instagram the following message: “I’m not standing for this obvious imitation any more.” Ye has also criticized Adidas for creating “Yeezy Day” without obtaining his permission, branding sneaker releases on its own, and not creating physical retail stores that are dedicated to his brand.
During a conference call held on Wednesday to discuss the business’s quarterly performance, Adidas Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer reaffirmed that the company retains ownership of the designs that it developed in collaboration with Ye.

According to what he had to say, Adidas is the only owner of all design rights registered to existing products. It is our intention to exercise these rights as early as the year 2023.

Ohlmeyer would to elaborate on Adidas’ plans when pressed during a following question and answer session with reporters. He did, however, reiterate that the business owns “each and every version, as well as any new colours. We own the intellectual property.” The Yeezy Slide, for which Ye owns the patent, can be considered an exception to this rule.

Ohlmeyer was asked by a reporter whether there would be any harm to the company’s reputation if it continued to release Yeezy products despite the fact that it no longer had the support of the artist.

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Ohlmeyer stated that “we are working through all of the options” at the moment. When the time is ripe, we will be able to provide further specifics.

Sneaker Twitter users have reacted to Adidas’ decision to rebrand Yeezy by predicting that the shoes will sell, but that they won’t generate as much anticipation as they did in the past when Ye was involved.

When Adidas announced that it was parting ways with Ye, the firm stated that it anticipated this decision would have a negative impact on its bottom line by the amount of $247 million. The earnings report that was released on Wednesday was consistent with that estimate. Ohlmeyer also mentioned that the company’s annual sales would be around $502 million less than what was anticipated for this year. However, Adidas will have a savings of approximately $302 million in 2023 as a result of the elimination of royalties and marketing costs associated with supporting the Yeezy business. When Kanye West left Nike in November 2013 to work for Adidas, he was critical of Nike and its previous CEO, Mark Parker, for their failure to pay him royalties on shoes that were sold.
West stated in 2013 that Nike had informed him that the company was unable to pay him royalties since he was not a professional athlete.

Ohlmeyer was also asked if Adidas intended to trash any of the previously released items or if it will be made available at a later time.

Ohlmeyer advised that “we need to take our time to analyze what the best possibilities are” before moving forward with any decision. “When it is the appropriate time, we will become more concrete.”

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