In an exclusive interview with Style.com, Kanye West thoroughly chronicles his design process and sources of inspiration for his 2015 Adidas Originals Collection.
On the runway, West's line appeared very clean, utilitarian, and (complexly) simple.
"It’s quite daring to keep clothes that simple. Nearly every designer over-embellishes and over-designs, and then people don’t actually want to wear the clothes," he says.
"I’m only concerned with making beautiful products available to as many people as possible … The least I could do is spend my time trying to give other people a piece of the so-called good life. Everyone should have the good life," he also says, but clarifies, "I'm not trying to sound presumptuous." Of course not.
When it comes to reading reviews and opinions about his collection, West said he refrains. "I don’t need any more negativity in my life [laughs] to make me work harder. I can’t possibly physically work harder. I have to tell myself to go to sleep...I’ve got an army behind me, so unless the reviewer is recognizing the army, they’re not recognizing the tank coming. I mean, I don’t know if people felt this, but it’s too late. Like the Drake album says, if you’re reading this, it’s already too late. If you’re seeing this, it’s already too late."
The rapper likens his efforts in coming to understand the world of fashion to a Robbin Hood approach, which brings the artistry of fashion to the masses at a reasonable price. He seeks to hire highly passionate, young, fresh workers to help collaborate and create with him. "So now I’m able to go and hire people directly from Parsons, people directly from Saint Martins, and that was the key. These super-dreamers, these super-passionate people, these super-special spirits and souls—they were looking for a place to go. And now we have a place where you not only can create in an environment that’s comparable to creating at a fashion house or creating at Apple or at Pixar, but also you can connect with people the way that H&M or Zara or, of course, Adidas can connect with people," he says.
But, it wasn't as easy for him as we all assumed, in part because of his association with his now-wife, Kim, and her reality-star family. “Soon as we started dating, fashion people completely turned their backs on her and me. And all the relationships, the somewhat friends that I had somewhat built up, completely turned their backs on her and me. They already had their back to her, and now they turned it to me.”
In their top 8 best quotes of the interview, E! Online favored West expressing that he believes Kim's recent gold Grammys gown was the best red carpet style moment in the history of fashion. "I'm biased, but I think the best red-carpet look of all time—if not, one of the top five—was my wife's look at the Grammys," he said. "You know what [Jean Paul Gaultier] just did. He said, ‘F--k the s--t. I'm making real s--t. I'm doing perfume and couture.' And by focusing on that, he delivered."
Image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto