Kanye West attends the Yeezy Runway Show on Nov. 4 in Los Angeles, California. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Kanye West is looking to hard launch a return to fashion, as the ever-controversial rapper hosted his first fashion show in four years in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
The show took place at West’s flagship “DROAM 1,” a warehouse space just southeast of Larchmont with an interior best described as an off-white cave with a hill in the center. By West’s standards at least, the night was relatively low-key. There were no grandiose statements of his creative genius (he didn’t speak at all beyond conversations with attendees who came up to him after the show), no three-hour delays, and no “White Lives Matter” T-shirts, the latter of which infamously marred West’s last fashion show for the Yeezy Season 9 drop in 2022 during Paris Fashion Week.
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West, joined by his four children North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm, drew several other stars in support for the event, with the guest list including 2 Chainz, Big Sean and Kid Cudi.
Kanye West and Kid Cudi. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Fitting to West’s continued goal for a refresh, the new line is called Yeezy Season 01. West played several unreleased songs during the show on Wednesday night, with models showcasing minimalistic military-inspired basics similar to Yeezy’s previous drops and accessories including boots, jackets and an oversized backpack.
The show came as the rapper, who now goes by Ye, continues his attempted comeback after he lampooned his mainstream career in the early 2020s with a multi-year spree of hateful, antisemitic comments that included releasing the song “Heil Hitler” and taking out a Super Bowl ad drawing viewers to his Yeezy website, where he was selling shirts with swastikas on them. Along with getting him dropped from CAA, his actions cost him his high-profile apparel deal with Adidas, while he ended a partnership with Gap as well.
At the beginning of the year, West took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologize, writing that “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people. … I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change.”
Days later, it was reported he had signed a record deal with Gamma for his next album Bully, which he released in June. He’s played several major stadium shows around the globe this year, including multiple sold-out gigs in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, Chicago’s Soldier Field and most recently a sold-out Houston show at Reliant Stadium. While he’s demonstrated he can still draw hundreds of thousands of ticket sales, his return has still been bumpy as many remain critical of doing business with West.
The U.K.’s Wireless Festival, for example, had to cancel after West was blocked from traveling to the country in response to him being booked to headline. Prior to the decision, West had given a statement saying that “I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here. With Love, Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.”
Kanye West walks the runway during the Yeezy show. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images Beyond the music, whether West could manage to win back the mainstream fashion world remains to be seen. John Galliano, for example, bowed out from an honor at next year’s Met Gala back in August after his selection drew backlash due to his antisemitic rant from 2011.
But in his own world on Wednesday, West has managed to remain indelible, finishing Wednesday night with a crowd of applause, briefly basking it in before taking a bow.
North West, Kanye West, Psalm West, Saint West and Chicago West Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images THR Newsletters
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