Adidas and Yeezy Part Ways, What’s Next?

It’s the end of an era as we know it! Adidas has announced the company is taking the necessary steps to part ways with Kanye West and the Yeezy brand. The relationship between the two was officially ended on October 25th due to comments made by Kanye on several platforms. Adidas opted to end production of YEEZY-branded products and stop all payments to Ye and his companies.

Kanye and Adidas have been in business for over a decade, after Kanye left Nike for lack of creative control. He debuted his first ever Yeezy 750 Boost followed by the Yeezy 350 Boost which was named ‘Shoe of the Year.’ The partnership was said to be the most significant made between a brand and a non-athletic entity. When the partnership started, the Adidas stock was trading at $38 USD a share. In 2017, the stock was just over $100 USD a share. In February 2022, Adidas was trading between $120-$140 USD a share. In 2021, YEEZY’s value as a brand was said to be between $3.2-$4.7 billion USD by UBS Group, a global financial firm. Adidas now estimates the end of YEEZY would have a “short-term negative impact of up to €250 million EUR on the company’s net income in 2022.“

So, what’s next for the Adidas brand without Kanye West? Well, we have two scenarios that could be made possible very soon. They could continue with the Yeezy designs without Ye or move in a different direction with totally new designs. We think they will continue with Ye’s popular designs as Adidas recently announced they’re the “sole owner of all design rights to existing products and new colorways under the terms of the partnership.” Sneaker Legal unveiled documentation stating adidas holds the patents to the YEEZY BOOST 750, YEEZY BOOST 350, YEEZY BOOST 350 V2, YEEZY BOOST 750 V2 and V3. They also hold patents for the unreleased YEEZY BOOST 1050. This means they can still release all of these designs in various colors without Ye’s consent. Kanye only owns the patent for the YEEZY Slide. adidas has since asked retailers to remove YEEZY shoes from their shelves and discontinue selling them. Our guess us they will continue selling them without the YEEZY name on or in the shoe.