adidas will continue to sell Yeezy

After announcing the end of its partnership with Kanye West, adidas will still continue to sell Yeezy, however, using only its branding. According to Bloomberg, analysts at Morgan Stanley and RBC Capital Markets have said, the German company will begin the sale early next year, thus seeking to continue capitalizing on a deal whose dissolution will cost adidas about 250 million euros in losses in the current year. «On our understanding, the company will not sell any Yeezy-branded products and all Yeezy products will be branded under adidas brand» said Morgan Stanley analyst Edouard Aubin.

This move is possible thanks to the rights to many Yeezy designs, owned by adidas as the brand pointed out in the statement announcing the end of the partnership. «adidas has the rights to existing Yeezy product designs and can sell these using Adidas branding» added RBC analyst Piral Dadhania. «Speaking to the company, it believes it can limit the loss of revenues through this strategy, and will also save on expenses related to royalty and marketing fees no longer payable in 2023.» The move probably won't be able to cover the lost revenue fully, but it could certainly help buffer a not-insignificant economic loss by appealing especially to buyers not interested in Yeezy branding and Kanye West's legacy.

For his part, West will instead have the option of continuing to use the Yeezy name which he owns-with the obligation, however, to come up with new and novel designs. «If he really wanted, he could probably sell other clothing or possibly footwear,» said David Martinez of Robins Kaplan LLP. «But when I say ‘other,’ that will have to be brand new silhouettes and brand new everything that would have his trademarks on it.» A post posted by West himself on Instagram and later removed also states that the rapper is in a position to immediately come up with new designs for footwear, apparel, and accessories that are considered to compete with adidas. At the same time, he will have to wait until Dec. 15, 2022, for the non-compete agreement with Gap to end. The question here is who Kanye West might turn to in order to pursue a new project at a time in history when every business partner has decided to cut ties with the rapper.