Adidas’ decision to end its business relationships with Ye had caused some legal disputes over intellectual property rights in their $2 billion collaboration and who owns what. Ye’s company, Mascotte Holdings, has at least 160 trademark applications or registrations for his Yeezy brand, but Adidas owns the exclusive design of most Yeezy shoes – including the popular Yeezy Boost 350 model.
It is not currently clear how the divide in intellectual property rights will affect the separation, and it all depends on the specifics of Ye’s contract with Adidas. What we do know is that he signed a contract with them back in 2016, but its contents are private so we can only speculate what they are based on what few details we have.
One possibility is termination clauses; this would allow either party to take out any intellectual properties belonging to the other. Another possible clause includes morality-related terminations – allowing for either side to end if something immoral happens, such as violence or drug use.
It’s difficult to say whether this separation will be easy or unpleasant, because we cannot determine what is outlined in the Adidas-Kanye contract, He said. Potentially one party could sue while another could file for an arbiter.
Branding agreements typically include a detailed dispute resolution mechanism that deals with all disputes. If both parties are allowed to retain ownership of their intellectual property, then Ye will most likely be able to sell Yeezy apparel on his own – something he has expressed interest in doing before, Attorney David Martinez pointed out.
Attorney Zak Kurtz, who founded Sneaker and Streetwear Legal Services said that those products would need entirely new designs. He went on to explain that Kanye West can make clothes under a different name but they would have to be brand new silhouettes which the company needs to come up with all over again.
This statement came after Adidas ending their relationship with West due to his Anti-Semitic comments and controversial White Lives Matter shirt he wore in Paris earlier this year. Earlier today, Gap also announced they will no longer carry Yezzy-Gap apparel in their stores.
The German sportswear giant announced that it would be ending production of Yeezy-branded products and stopping all payments to Ye immediately. This sudden break up will cost them dearly: Adidas estimated a $US247 million loss in net income for this year because of the breakup, and outside estimates place the collaboration as accounting for anywhere from 8% – 10% of the company’s total revenue.
At the very least, Heidi Howard Tandy said while discussing her experience with intellectual property law cases in general, Adidas will owe Ye royalties for every single product they’ve sold since they last paid him. Because there are still people who haven’t received their orders yet or aren’t even aware of the change just yet, she believes that they’ll need to account for that too.
Adidas asserted ownership of all existing products as well as past and future color schemes related to the shoes. Filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office revealed that Adidas was granted a series of design patents for the Yeezy Boost 350 shoe in 2017 and 2018. These designs are credited to Nic Galway, Vice President of Global Design at Adidas, per filings filed with the U.S patent office.
Kanye West Starts to Feel the Heat — Who Owns the Yeezy Brand?
Kanye West and Adidas had a rough patch when Ye accused the company of releasing unoriginal shoes in June 2022. Though they reconciled, now it seems they’ve made up only to find themselves at odds once again – this time forcing Adidas to halt the production of all Yeezy branded merchandise.
In recent months, Kanye West has been heavily criticized for his erratic behavior and outspokenness. What does this say about the state of his mental health?
Both Kanye West and Adidas share ownership rights of Yeezy-branded products
Although West owns 100% of the Yeezy brand, giving him ownership over the Yeezy trademark, Adidas stated in a recent press release that it is the sole owner of all design rights to existing products as well as previous and new colorways under the partnership. But until October 25th, 2022 – Adidas still owned exclusivity to publish footwear by Ye. In 2015, Kanye released his very first Adidas shoe called Boost 750.
Originally, speculation arose about whether or not Kim Kardashian could have been part-owner of Kanye’s business ventures – but he quickly confirmed (in what seems to be an attempt at making amends) on social media that she wasn’t affiliated at all (he just wanted everyone to know he hadn’t left her off).
Kanye West publicly announced that he owed Philly rapper Beanie Sigel 50 million dollars and a 5% stake in his clothing line Yeezy because the later came up with the name for it. This means that at the time, Sigel was one of two co-owners for this popular fashion line alongside Kanye himself; though Ye has not come through on his promise yet during their partnership with Adidas. As such, Kanye still earns royalties from his own clothing line’s shoes – 15% of which will go to the designer who created them.
Adidas dropped the Yeezy brand after Ye made antisemitic comments
On October 25th of 2022, Adidas announced that they would no longer carry Kanye West’s line, Yeezy. This decision comes after the company discovered Mr. West posting derogatory slurs on social media- in particular an anti-semitic tweet reading death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE. Not only had his actions become erratic at this point, but he also wore a white nationalist slogan t-shirt while presenting at one of his latest Yeezy fashion shows.
After increasing pressure from celebrities and organizations, Adidas finally severed its business relationship with Kanye West. In a statement, the company said Kanye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, which violated the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.
Nike was the first company to partner with Ye
Prior to Adidas partnering with Kanye West, Nike had already begun making sneakers under the Yeezy brand. They began making these shoes back in 2009 and they continued all the way until 2013 when they launched Air Yeezys – helping make Kanye such a wanted figure within the world of fashion brands.
The Nike-Yeezy partnership proved to be short-lived due to Kanye West wanting some form of royalties on the Air Yeezy line. He did not earn any royalties from the project because during that period, it was uncommon for people outside sports (celebrities) or even those within sports (artists) to receive anything other than a contract when collaborating with manufacturers.
Due to his contribution to Nike and changing what an athlete represents – namely, Michael Jordan earning only 5% royalties off Jordan sales – he deserved something more in return for making these contributions.
Adidas moves on
In November 2022, Adidas decided to continue selling products from their own catalog without the Yeezy name or branding – a decision which created turmoil for both investors and fans alike. This particular decision was made when the company appointed the former head of Puma Bjørn Gulden as the new CEO, with Gulden tasked with finding ways to restore damages done to their previous earnings while also restoring faith in their product line-up. To many onlookers, it seemed like this decision would only hurt them more in long run due to confusion between Kanye’s Yeezys and Adidas’ offerings.
Key takeaways
- Fashion label Yeezy was born from a collaboration between Adidas and Kanye West, an entrepreneur and music artist.
- The partnership between Kanye and Adidas before it dissolved was an intricate one. Kanye owned 100% of the brand while Adidas handled all production, marketing, and distribution rights for a fixed number of years.
- After the end of an extremely successful partnership, Adidas still retained all merchandising rights for Kanye West’s original company and assets – excepting his name. However, they had been left with an enormous amount of unsold goods which was costing them so much money they incurred a 250 million euro deficit. It wasn’t until November 2022 that this was resolved when Adidas came up with a plan to remove both Kanye West’s name and logo from all future Yeezy products from then on out – in order to save themselves from significant financial loss.
Both Kanye West and Adidas have ownership of Yeezy
In an exclusive phone interview with Forbes magazine, Kanye West announced that he now owns the brand entirely and has total creative control over designing shoes for his company. However, a recent article from Footwear News revealed that this proclamation may not be true after all.
In the article, attorney Jared Goldstein clarified to Footwear News reporters that despite what Mr. West said in his tweet last month about owning the entire company, Adidas still holds sole rights for making decisions about design choices for all of Yeezy’s shoes and apparel.
Until October 25, 2022, Adidas and Kanye West had an exclusive footwear contract that allowed them to collaborate and split revenues.
FAQs About Who Owns Yeezy
Who owns Givenchy brand?
Kanye West is a designer who owns Yeezy – his own company that deals with footwear and high fashion. His personal collection of designs was so successful, it made him one of the top designers in America.
Does Kanye West own Yeezy?
Mar 12, 2016 · Yeezy is a clothing line created by Kanye West and represents what it means to be young and ambitious. Defining the future of fashion from our new global headquarters in Calabasas, California. The Yeezy brand creates apparel, accessories and footwear for men who are looking to make their own way in life.
What was the first Adidas Yeezy?
Oct 14, 2021 · Yeezy Boost 700sV1, V2, & V3. First appearing in 2017, the Yeezy 700 was Kanye West’s first step into the world of big bulky boots. And the first experiment with the dad-shoes trend. Not to say this silhouette was not a success. It actually created a GIGANTIC wave in the industry with the Waverunner Yeezy.
Are Yeezys made by Adidas?
October 14th, 2021 – Yeezy Boost 700s. These shoes made waves when they first came out in 2017. They were Kanye West’s introduction to the world of chunky heeled boots. And one of his many attempts at capturing that dad shoe trend we see all over social media nowadays. Despite some negative reviews early on, these shoes brought about a paradigm shift for an entire industry – just take a look at its sister line, the Waverunner!
Conclusion
One discrepancy lies in the fact that these claims may not be entirely reliable. The company does not disclose sales data, which means that it is impossible to ascertain whether or not the statement West makes about his success in running the Yeezy brand are accurate or false. Considering how West has claimed on twitter- one year ago-that he is 53 million dollars in debt and an unnamed source who says they find it hard to believe that a company could generate over 1 billion dollars while at the same time making more than jordan shoes; there begins to seem less truth behind West’s statements.
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