Kanye is full of surprises. While in New York for his adidas collection reveal and New York Fashion Week, Style caught up with Ye for an in-depth interview about his inspirations in the fashion world. In the Q+A session Ye discusses his hate for ‘-ism’s,’ dressing and designing with Kim Kardashian West and working towards his fashion world goals for the past 18 years.
Here are some of the highlights of the interview:
So when’s [the adidas line] going to be in stores?
We’re going to do some injections within the next three months. The camouflage pieces will be out within the next three months. I want to point out one thing to all the people who only work in fashion and don’t really take full consideration of this thing called the real world. People say, “Hey, Kanye, you’re going against all odds.” And I say, wait a second, the shoes sold out within the first 10 minutes. 9,000 shoes. So everyone, the odds are with me. The people are with me. Now it’s up to you to choose whether or not I’m chic enough to sit at your dinner table. And I could give a fuck about your dinner table, by the way. I’ve got my own petrified Rick Owens table in my house. Is that chic enough?
Did you look to anyone, like Margiela, Helmut Lang. What influences—
You guys know my fucking influences. I’ve got four influences and it’s written all over the face, you know the combination. Just as much as Drake is influenced by Kanye West, you know my fucking influences. You see Raf Simons right there, you see Helmut, you see Margiela, you see Vanessa [Beecroft], you see Katharine Hamnett. It’s blatantly right there. I’m not going to try and act like I was influenced by a fucking dog walking down the street that broke its ankle that I had a heartfelt discussion with. I had a heartfelt discussion with all of these fucking Helmut Lang images that I stared at for so many years. I had a heartfelt discussion with my Tumblr.
I know you have a lot of respect for Ralph Lauren, and there is something very democratic about the way that Ralph designs. It’s not just high-end runway, it’s something people wear through every aspect of their lives. Is Ralph someone you admire in that sense?
Ralph is the god. And that’s all I want to say about Ralph.
Do you feel that it’s important to do the runway each time, every season? Just with the way that you’re talking about democracy and getting it into people’s hands, would you consider releasing it other times of year?
We’ll have more injections. I eventually want it to be brick-and-mortar. One of my dreams was to be the head creative director of the Gap. I’d like to be the Steve Jobs of the Gap.
Well, from what I’ve heard, they could use you.
Perhaps this is a bit of a demo tape. When I say Steve Jobs of the Gap, as I talk to the people at the Gap right now [leans into tape recorder], I’m not talking about a capsule. I’m talking about full Hedi Slimane creative control of the Gap is what I would like to do. And I can say this because it doesn’t conflict with my adidas contract. [laughs]
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