The Kanye Effect: Every time the rapper made a brand successful

That Kanye West is one of the greatest contemporary geniuses is a well-established fact; his extensive discography, groundbreaking interviews, and incredible communication skills already explain what it means to be a creative in today's world. It's not enough to have inventiveness in just one area; there is a need to be so skilled as to develop eclecticism and versatility to adapt to as many audiences as possible. In fashion, design, music, Kanye has shown himself to be truly The Chosen One - someone capable of turning everything he touches into gold. And to quantify his Midas-like power, we don't need to talk solely about the times he was a game changer as a creative director and founder of a brand; Kanye has become a fortune for brands just by wearing one of their items. Like Coogi with The Notorious B.I.G., many brands must thank the messiah Kanye West for their blessings. For this reason, this article won't address the artist's most recent events and adventures with adidas or GAP, but rather stories that seem to have happened an eternity ago, but have actually contributed to laying the foundations for Kanye's wild last decade.

Casio and Polo Ralph Lauren

The first brands to experience significant growth thanks to the light emanating from his persona are Casio and Polo Ralph Lauren. This was the era when Kanye West favored a preppy style and colorful long-sleeve polo shirts, perfect to pair with a G-Shock, right? So, symbiotically, Casio and Polo Ralph Lauren became brands suitable for rappers, and vice versa, rappers could adopt preppy style in their fits. As for Casio, Kanye became notable for the brand after wearing a pink G-Shock in a photo that appeared on the cover of Complex in 2007. The cover was noticed by Shigenori Itoh, the president of Casio's timepiece division at the time. Legend has it that it was Itoh who contributed to the agreement between Casio and Kanye, who performed at two of the company's events in 2008 and 2009. As for Polo Ralph Lauren, its influence has continued to this day. In August, North West wore the iconic blue and orange long-sleeve polo shirt that Kanye's father wore in his youth. Moreover, in popular culture, one of the brand's most famous iconographies, the bear designed by Dick Tahsin in various shades between 1990 and 1996, began to be known as The Kanye Bear, obviously in the mid-2000s.

LRG and Bape

The examples of Casio and Ralph Lauren set a precedent, allowing brands to believe for the first time that Kanye West's figure could increase their international awareness. The emerging streetwear brand, LRG, after scrutinizing Kanye for a campaign, experienced incredible fame, practically parallel to the rapper himself, who was riding high thanks to the release of the colossal albums The College Dropout and Late Registration. The Kanye effect began to grow monstrous when he wore the famous LRG hoodie, the Dead Serious, during Stella McCartney's fashion show at Paris Fashion Week in 2006. The item immediately became the object of desire for anyone, finding fertile ground in the secondary market on eBay at exorbitant prices. The "LRG case" was further confirmation that Kanye West's influence was about to take hold, especially when you consider that his insights were pioneering and influenced the aesthetics of artists like Lil Wayne and Pharrell Williams. Matching luxury and streetwear brands (like Bape) was considered a novelty at the time, and this is what made Bape successful. As Complex reports in this article, Michael Vincent, manager of the Bape flagship store in New York, emphasizes the importance of the mentioned artists: without them, the brand would have had a hard time gaining the reputation it possesses today, and he adds, «I remember opening the store on the day of the Bapesta x Kanye West drop; I was wearing them. I had forgotten that we were releasing them that day, and everyone was staring at me. That release was crazy, the line stretched all the way to the Chanel store, it was raining, and Kanye wasn't even there. But his music was playing, and there were about 1,000 people in line.»

Givenchy and Bottega Veneta

Kanye had already taken his first steps into the higher echelons of fashion. He was no stranger to matching sneakers with Louis Vuitton duffel bags and Goyard tote bags, yet the first high-end brand to fully benefit from the Kanye effect was Givenchy. As in the case of the Ralph Lauren bear crewneck and the LRG hoodie, the third item created by a brand directly associated with the rapper became the Givenchy T-shirt featuring a print of a rottweiler. With a connection to Riccardo Tisci, who was the creative director of the French fashion house at the time, Kanye had a custom-made oversized T-shirt that he would wear at some dates of the joint Watch The Throne tour with Jay-Z - just for the record, Tisci designed the artwork on the album cover. The sales of that T-shirt reached staggering figures (incredible considering the retail price was around €500), but Kanye's influence for Givenchy wasn't just due to the success of that particular product, but also for the spread of a new style. Oversized clothing from that fateful period in 2011-2012, in music and fashion, took a different turn; the rapper who wore baggy denim, Timberland boots, and XXXL jerseys witnessed the arrival of the combination of skinny jeans and oversized T-shirts, which would become predominant and make the fortunes of other brands, like Hood By Air. On the footwear side, Kanye's creative flair had already found expression and influence in previous years with the release of Bapesta (2007), the unreleased Air Max 180 tribute to The College Dropout, various colorways of Nike Air YEEZY, and finally the three silhouettes (Jasper, Don, and Mr. Hudson). But a man with limitless resources like Kanye couldn't help but go beyond sneakers. That's how he started - without actually designing them - to wear Bottega Veneta's famous Chelsea Boot, a suede ankle boot that created quite a buzz around the brand and men's fashion as a whole.

From The Life of Pablo to Today

The period of The Life of Pablo release is one of the most curious; so many things happen, all simultaneously, within a few months, and they will have a significant impact on both the fashion industry and the wardrobes of those who admire Kanye West's imagery with total admiration. The album's merchandise quickly thrilled almost everyone, especially Bravado. This is the name of the company behind the merchandise for The Life of Pablo and even Yeezus, which saw substantial sums of money flow into their pockets after setting up pop-up stores where people could buy the merchandise released in conjunction with Kanye's album. Not only established brands but even "simple" entities like Bravado have enjoyed moments of glory thanks to Kanye's impact. As if that weren't enough, it's fair to credit Kanye West with turning memorabilia, simple souvenirs, into must-have clothing items. The rest is self-evident: Vetements and Balenciaga will be the next brands worn by Kanye West in the years to come. In the collective imagination, the rapper no longer wears skinny clothing but rather excessively relaxed garments, a clothing concept that he had already popularized through the lookbooks and fashion shows of the YEEZY Season.

We cannot help but be curious to discover what the future holds for Kanye West. After ending ties with adidas due to unfortunate anti-Semitic incidents and even being turned away by Skechers, we hope that the rapper can get his hands on a project of his own, perhaps Pastelle? Or maybe YEWS? Only time will tell.