Kanye West dual-previewed his highly anticipated album, The Life of Pablo, and the third season of his Adidas Yeezy fashion line on Feb. 11.
In true Kanye fashion, West went all out with the preview, hosting a performance-art installation that combined the unveiling of both the album and the fashion line at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
West, whose first fashion line released with Adidas in February of 2015, has been a staple of the fashion scene in hip-hop music and pop culture for years. West has had shoe designs released by multiple different brands throughout his designing career, with his signature shoes being released by Nike from 2009 to 2011, as well as collaborating on shoe designs with brands such as Louis Vuitton, Bape and Giuseppe Zanotti previously in his career.
The Yeezy fashion line, which features men’s and women’s clothing, competes with the price points amongst other luxury clothing brands, selling jackets and sweaters priced over $2,000. West’s shoe line is a bit more modestly priced — around $250 — and has been highly successful, so much so that Adidas has released three different models and eight total color ways of Yeezy shoes in the past 12 months.
The men’s Yeezy Season 3 line received mainly positive reviews and contains similar elements to West’s previously released lines, such as camouflage print trench coats, ripped or tattered sweaters and oversized hoodies with bomber jackets.
However, elements of Season 3, especially on the women’s line, involved fashion risks with elements that felt hard to implement into every day style, such as one-toned body suits and knitted leg warmers.
West’s continual exploration of the fashion world was bound to be full of ups and downs, but what many cannot deny is West’s ability to influence how young musicians and young males dress.
Whether as a designer or as a musician, West has become a fashion role model for many individuals.
Although it’s great that West is able to have a fashion line publically available, it’s unlikely that many college students would be able — or willing — to purchase any of the Yeezy line at the price it’s currently listed at. A sweater the price of a ding plan? No thanks. If you do want to dress a bit like West, don’t worry, the Old Gold & Black is here to give you a few tips on where to find great Yeezy-esque elements and alternatives.
Tattered & Torn
A staple of all three of the Yeezy lines is a ripped sweater or jogger, and even though West has yet to bring it into his own line, he is frequently spotted wearing destroyed denim. Ripped denim can be easily replicated by your local stores such as Gap, but for a higher quality destroyed denim option, check out Golden Denim, a southern-California based company that prides itself in hand-crafting each product they sell. When it comes to ripped sweaters and jackets, look no further than Entrée Lifestyle, an extremely popular street-wear brand from Brooklyn, New York.
Hoodies and Bombers
Bomber jackets have been a look that has been in for a while, and West is the latest to hop on that trend. If you’re looking for a high quality but affordable bomber jacket, look at the Spanish site Maniere De Voir. The trench bomber jacket, another classic West piece, can be replicated at a more affordable price from Informal Apparel, an online retailer based out of Denver.
The long line hoodie has been a fundamental layer in West’s fashion wardrobe and Yeezy line and it’s a look that could be replicated by getting a long-line hoodie off of the European fashion site boohoo.uk, or at your local H&M.
Yeezy-type shoes
Adidas really hit gold by landing West for the Yeezy shoe-line, and fortunately Adidas has put out other lines of Yeezy-type shoes at an affordable and available price. If you can’t land your hands on one of the Yeezy Boost 750, try getting a pair of Adidas tubular runners — a stylish type of jogger/runner shoe designed by influential Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto. If getting a pair of Yeezy 350s is outside your budget, look at picking up a pair of Nike Flyknit racers, or a pair of gray Adidas Ultra Boosts to find a similar style look.