Adidas stuck with Yeezy gear after dropping Kanye

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany -- Adidas said Wednesday it was still weighing what to do with its huge inventory of Kanye West's Yeezy products after it ended its partnership with the controversial rapper.

Potentially not selling the apparel and shoes linked to West would lead to a revenue loss of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), the group said, announcing its 2022 full-year results.

Adidas halted its tie-up with West -- now known formally as Ye -- in October after he made a series of anti-Semitic outbursts.

As a result, the group ended production of the highly successful Yeezy line designed together with West.

"Should the company irrevocably decide not to repurpose any of the existing Yeezy product going forward," it would have to write-off the entire inventory, it said.

That would lower the company's operating profit by an additional 500 million euros in 2023, it said.

Along with one-off costs projected to reach 200 million euros related to a company strategic review, Adidas said it could end up with an operating loss of 700 million euros in 2023.

Bjorn Gulden, the group's new chief executive, said the company will use 2023 as a "transition year to build the base for 2024 and 2025".

"We need to reduce inventories and lower discounts. We can then start to build a profitable business again in 2024," he said.

Next year was shaping up to be a key one for sporting apparel companies, with both the European football championships and the Olympic Games taking place.

Adidas on Wednesday also said net profit fell heavily by 83 percent to 254 million euros in 2022, confirming preliminary results released in February.

Besides its woes over the Yeezy line, it was also facing "elevated recession risks in Europe and North America as well as uncertainty around the recovery in Greater China."

"The company's revenue development will also be impacted by the initiatives to significantly reduce high inventory levels," it added.

Agence France-Presse

With a celebrity front row, Kanye West rolls out Yeezy shoes

NEW YORK— With Beyonce, Rihanna and Diddy among the front-row celebrity royalty, Kanye West rolled out his Yeezy Boost shoe line for Adidas on Thursday as his baby North fussed in mama Kim Kardashian’s arms next to a stone-faced Anna Wintour.

Models, men and women, wore minimal neutral tights or street wear in red, green and black to let the shoes shine in a tech-driven unveiling that included a simulcast to 42 theaters on three continents around the world.

A mysterious Yeezy website with a countdown clock had gone up last week to stoke excitement over the highly anticipated release, West’s inaugural collaboration with Adidas Originals.

An app was set up to take reservations for the gray suede high tops, to be collected and paid for at Adidas and other stores Saturday — in New York City only for the moment.

Reservations were full within minutes, an Adidas spokesman said. Only 9,000 pairs of the 750 Boosts will be sold, at $350 a pop, on Saturday with more available Feb. 28 worldwide.

Kanye’s voice was on blast talking about art, freedom and making a difference as the show opened in a cavernous space downtown. “I want people to feel like awesome is possible,” he declared. Then came the calming drone of a trumpet, followed by loud, edgy music as his models stood solemnly in rows. They marched in lockstep to take their turn in front of a scrum of cameras before walking off in single file to make room for the next line.

West has promised the presentation will be repeated over two days at 10 locations. Lucky ticket-holders who scored theater seats in countries ranging from Australia and Finland to France, Germany, Russia and the UK got to watch live.

Backstage after the show, West was chill and smiling, a pair of his new Yeezys with their thick white soles and wide strap across the laces in place. A side zip and front perforations complete the look of the lead style, which comes with a spare set of laces.

The rapper has big plans to create more Yeezys, for women and kids as well, after leaving Nike for Adidas more than a year ago.

He has spoken of the “isms” in fashion and in life — classism, elitism, racism. But on Thursday, after the crowd thinned out, he had no problems on his mind, refusing to talk about his Grammys diss of Beck, which he retreated from in a radio interview Wednesday.

“I just focus on beauty, fabric, proportion and try to get the price where the kids can get a hold of it,” he told The Associated Press of his Yeezys after urging fans to avoid “shoe wars” and thefts and be patient for more of the shoes to come.

How do the trainers symbolize Kanye?

“It’s not me. It’s the people,” he said. “I think that there’s something that people have been wanting and missing and this is my proposition, you know, to contribute in some way. I want to contribute to society through usable art.”

The star-studded presentation also drew Jay Z, Russell Simmons and Justin Bieber. Beyonce had a good time.

“I thought it was beautiful,” she said backstage after the show. “Very innovative. I loved how the ladies lined up.”

Also attending were Kardashian Momager Kris Jenner and Kim sisters Kendall and Khloe, who smiled from the front row against the backdrop of New York Fashion Week’s opening day and the NBA All-Star game this weekend.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Adidas Releases its St. Patrick's Rose 2.5 Edition

Manila, Philippines – After another huge outing last Monday and another key match-up the other day versus the Miami Heat, Derrick Rose's Chicago Bulls enter a stretch against the East's top teams. That includes a home match-up this Saturday on St. Patrick's Day where the Bulls will don green uniforms and Rose will debut an all-new colorway of the adiZero Rose 2.5.

Dubbed "St. Paddy's," this Kelly green colorway of the shoe hooks up to the Chicago Bulls' special green uniforms when they play on St. Patrick's Day, one of the most celebrated holidays in the Chicago area.

In 2006, the Chicago Bulls were one of three teams to take part in the NBA's first-ever St. Patrick's Day uniform celebration. The shoe features a luckskin nubuck upper that also ties back to the colors of Derrick's childhood school, Beasley Academy.




Avail of your own adiZero Rose 2.5 St. Paddy’s in the following stores: adidas Trinoma, Greenbelt 3, SM Mall of Asia, Sm North EDSA, Cebu and Titan.

source: mb.com.ph