Is the Kanye hype dead?
Sydney, Australia. A place where you meet egos that are almost as big as Kanye’s on a half-hourly basis. A place where trophy wives drape themselves in athleisure and men need to spend $4000 on a haircut — because of status. It was the perfect scene for Kanye’s latest activewear collaborative pop up. That is, until nobody showed up.
For what seemed like months on end, Kim K-W spruiking Kanye’s latest collaborative effort between Yeezy brand and Australian activewear makers 2XU. Then this week the collection finally launched at a pop-up event in Sydney. The problem was, nobody cared.
We thought that everything Kanye touched turned to gold — because Kanye had been telling us that for as long as we can remember.
But Yeezy failed to gain traction with Sydney’s steezy Yeezy crew, a first for the city and for ‘Ye himself. Perhaps the lack of interest stems from the self-confessed genius’ epic Twitter rants, his support for Donald Trump or his comments on slavery.
Or maybe it’s because hypebeasts have no need for skin-hugging, reveal-all Yeezy tights (hypebeasts are known for overcompensating for something — not packing much, eh?) or maybe, just maybe. Kanye’s hype effect is on the slide.
Maybe it’s time to offload your Yeezys before they become Starburys.