- Adidas will sell surplus Yeezy merchandise and donate the proceeds to international organizations offended by Kanye West’s racist comments.
- Through 2022, Yeezys accounted for nearly 7% of Adidas sales.
- Adidas has distanced itself from West for his attitudes, as have other brands such as Balenciaga, GAP and Footlocker.
Adidas will sell some of the huge stock of Yeezy merchandise left over after the abrupt end of its partnership with rapper Kanye West and will donate the proceeds.
The CEO of Adidas, Bjoern Gulden, said this Thursday, May 11.
When and how the sales will materialize is something we are looking at, Gulden said.
“We are working on this,” said the CEO of Adidas, to later confirm that they are not going to burn the Yeeze. “Burning them is not a good solution,” he announced at the marc’s annual general meeting in the German city of Fuerth.
One more fact: Gulden explained that Proceeds from the sale of the Yeezes will be donated to the international organizations West offended with his racist comments.
Adidas ended its deal with the rapper and fashion designer in October 2022 after who now goes by Ye made anti-Semitic comments on Instagram and Twitter.
Following the completion of the deal, millions of Yeezy-branded sneakers that had already been produced went unsold and are sitting in Adidas warehouses waiting for the brand to decide what to do.
In November, Adidas donated $1.2 million to the Anti-Defamation League, an international Jewish NGO based in New York. At the time, the organization said they were “willing to work with Adidas.”
It was unclear what Adidas would do with the already produced Yeezy shoes from the ended cooperation with rapper Kanye West. Parts of the goods are to be sold and the proceeds donated, said Adidas boss Bjrön Gulden at the general meeting.
— FAZ Finanzen (@FAZ_Finance) May 11, 2023
Adidas and the Yeezy problem
Adidas was left WITH millions of Yeezy sneakers worth approximately 500 million euros (around 530 million dollars) after leaving the alliance that united the German brand with West. This was assured by a financial times report.
Although later that figure rose to more than 1,200 million dollars.
To have a dimension of the subject, it must be said that the Yeezy represented almost 6.9 percent of the total sales of Adidas in 2022, with an approximate value of 1,700 million euros.
Another idea that had circulated was to give them away in countries like Türkiye and Syria. The version even circulated about changing the brand to a different one.
Gulden took over the German brand after the departure of the now former CEO, Kasper Rorsted. he came to Adidas from Puma, where he was CEO.
Adidas isn’t the only one to drop Yeezy because of West’s attitudes. Balenciaga, Gap and Footlocker also dropped out.
Human rights activists have long singled out the German company for its silence on comments made by West, reactions that have increasingly alienated him from the entertainment and fashion industries.
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