Kanye West’s Impact on Fashion
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Kanye West is a fashion genius. Love or hate him, he has paved the way for streetwear to become part of high fashion and it is evident through the many fashion collections we have seen walk down the runway. There is no doubt he has been a trendsetter and continues to be.
Growing up in Chicago, West always shopped at Gap and even worked for them in 1992. Fast forward to today, he recently released his new YZY x Gap collection that is now available in stores and online. Talk about high fashion meets streetwear, YZY x Gap has recently teamed up with Balenciaga as well for a new collection.
He tells Paper Magazine, "It's funny that I worked at the Gap in high school, because in my past 15 years it seems like that's the place I stood in my creative path - to be the gap, the bridge."
West finds inspiration from the color palettes and fabrics he grew up around. A lot of his collections feature neutrals, earth tones, and unique architecture.
After dropping out of college after one year, his family relocated to NYC where West pursued his career in music. West soon rose to fame with his first album, The College Dropout, in 2004. His career took off leading to numerous albums and awards.
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In 2009, West interned at Fendi to further delve into his love for fashion. While working for Fendi, he met Virgil Abloh, the founder of streetwear company, Off-White that was established a few years later. West and Abloh worked alongside each other as interns and became close friends. The two caught Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton’s attention with their disruptive taste to high fashion.
Abloh went on to be the creative director for West’s creative agency in 2010 and was later given the position as artistic director for Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection in 2018. In early 2021, he became the creative director of LVMH. It is clear that West was a big inspiration behind Abloh’s fashion career as Abloh was to West.
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In February 2015, West debuted his first “season” or collection with Adidas known as YEEZY. YEEZY Season 1 featured many streetwear looks for men and women including oversized sweaters, military jackets, sneakers, boots, and so much more.
Demna Gvasalia, a Georgian fashion designer, was called to be a part of the elite creative team of West and helped bring YEEZY Season 1’s debut to life. Their professional relationship and friendship was born in 2015 and only grew when Gvasalia went on to be Balenciaga’s creative director in 2015, only a few months after joining West’s team. Just like Abloh, West’s beliefs in Gvasalia helped shape his growth in the fashion world.
His next collection would follow the next year in 2016 leading up to the release of The Life of Pablo, his eighth studio album to which he played tracks of at his YEEZY showcase in Madison Square Garden.
YEEZY Season 5 was released at New York Fashion Week in Feb. 2017 for the first time. West continued on with his music and two more seasons of YEEZY that were not shown at fashion week for 2018 and 2019.
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Even West’s tour merch was (and still is) iconic. Everything from the sketched College Dropout bear in 2004 that West drew himself, to the 2013 Yeezus tour merch that was designed with the help of artist Wes Lang who designed graphics for Metallica in the past, Glastonbury merch in 2015, the “I Feel Like Pablo” merch in 2016, “Kids See Ghosts” merch in 2018… And a million more.
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Amongst his own fashion lines, West has promoted many looks in the past decade that have transformed street style to a point we would have never expected. He has shown likes to brands such as Maison Margiela, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, and Vetements (Gvasalia’s brand est. in 2014, not to mention) just to name a few. He popularized rugby collars and Polo bear sweaters in 2004, 1970’s leisure suits, aviator sunglasses, shutter shades in 2007, bomber jackets, distressed denim, Adidas track pants, Dad hats and sneakers, basics… You get the picture.
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West has envisioned streetwear to be what it is today with his many years of working in the music industry while absorbing the fashion around him. We can thank him for many of the styles that exist today.
