The Self-fulfilling Prophesy of Kanye West
For example, three years ago, when Kanye West proclaimed he’d be “bigger than Wal-Mart” about ditching Nike in favor of Adidas. Few would have given it anything more than the “Kanye shrug.”
This article is part of our complete guide to How Hip-Hop Changed Everything.
In addition, fast forward to 2016, when the Adidas North American leg has pivoted and repositioned the brand to focus more on running. Basketball. “originals,” a change that has garnered huge success in the market. Mark Smith (Adidas North American President) stated in a Fortune Mag interview that Adidas had become “the fastest growing [sportswear] brand in North America…”
Of course, granted, this may be a bit of an overzealous statement from an optimistic Smith. Let’s humor him for a second and crack into the numbers…
Yeezy by the Numbers
However, looking back at 2012, the year before the Kanye West announcement. In short, it was a year that saw Adidas rake in an already pretty impressive €14.883 billion in sales with a 47% gross margin. By the end of 2015, Adidas had hauled in a whopping €2 billion more in sales (€16.915 billion) and a gross margin of 48% (+1%). And just in case you aren’t paying attention. that’s 2 billion dollars in added revenue.
The question is, how much of it was Ye?
Also, let’s address the elephant in the room. Specifically, the Yeezy’s.
Finally, announced in 2013 and officially released in 2015, the Yeezy collection is the home of cultural icon Kanye West’s footwear and apparel designs created in partnership with adidas. Spanning several “Yeezy Seasons”, the ongoing collaborative collection features West’s popular Yeezy Boost sneakers as well as several high-end clothing pieces.
— solecollector.com
Ever since their first release in 2015, the Yeezy has been shutting down servers, stirring up comparisons to Air Jordan’s, and sending hoards of people into hype beast stampedes 2015 was not only the inaugural year for the Adidas model of the Yeezy but it was also a year of some pretty impressive professional victories for Kanye and the Yeezy line, including ending the year on a positive stride with the Yeezy’s receiving the “Shoe of the Year” award from FNAA. Not to mention solidifying itself as a major player in the sneaker game.
Check this data out courtesy of Campless and Highsnobiety:
![Top 20 Total Dollars Spent [on sneakers]](https://cdn.kubashi.com/2016/10/17011057/Top-20-Most-Bought-Shoes.jpg)
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“Kanyeezy, you did it again!” Kanye West Makes Good on His Promise
Therefore, adidas Originals, the lifestyle business into which the Yeezy collection is grouped. Saw its sales grow 45 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016. Specifically, the latest Yeezy release was on Oct. 15th, 2016. Coincidence? We’re talking almost double its sales from quarter 3 to quarter 4.
Adidas company had this to say of the Yeezy clothing and footwear line:
“Not only [have the Yeezy’s] sold out instantly but [they have] also played a major role in propelling Adidas to the most popular sneaker brand on Instagram in 2015.”
— Adidas on the Kanye West effect
As a result, wait, what? Instagram??? Did he say Instagram? I know, I know… However, according to the data, Instagram referrals result in considerably higher revenue than other social networks, and social clout is a good barometer of consumer opinion of a brand and its product. Maybe some charts will help you with a little perspective.
![Most Like Sneaker Brands in 2015 [Instagram]](https://cdn.kubashi.com/2016/10/17011102/Most-Liked-Sneaker-Brands-in-2015.jpg)
In short, yes, I know the self-proclaimed “Tupac of product” can’t be given all the credit for Adidas’ recent successes. Many would also attribute the success to the increase in lifestyle fashion and the new generation of “fitsters” who are taking sportswear out of the gym and onto the street and making it fashionable. Despite this, one can’t ignore the positive correlation between Mr. West’s arrival at Adidas and the brand’s steady market rise.
Honestly, although Adidas still has a lot of catching up to do in terms of catching Nike’s ridiculous $30 B in annual sales. In addition, with the help of Kanye West, Adidas is slowly making up ground. Let’s just say this story is to be continued…
Update: How the Story Actually Ended
“To be continued” aged into one of the wilder breakups in sneaker history. In October 2022, after Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) went on a run of antisemitic rants, Adidas cut the partnership loose — and the same Yeezy machine that had juiced the brand’s numbers turned into a billion-dollar problem overnight. The split torched roughly €250 million in profit that year and left Adidas sitting on about $1.3 billion in unsold Yeezys it could no longer move with his name attached.
For a beat, Adidas floated just destroying the inventory. Instead, new CEO Bjørn Gulden chose to sell it off in waves and route part of the proceeds to organizations fighting hate and antisemitism. Commercially, it worked: the sell-off pulled in roughly €750 million in 2023 and €650 million in 2024 — about €1.3 billion ($1.4B) in all — and Adidas moved its final pair of Yeezys by the end of 2024. The company says it has since donated or earmarked more than €250 million from the effort, including €200 million to a newly created adidas Foundation.
The legal side wrapped cleaner than the headlines: in October 2024 the two sides settled and agreed to drop their dueling claims with neither paying the other, and in December 2025 Adidas beat a shareholder lawsuit that accused it of ignoring the risk of hitching its brand to Ye. Which makes the answer to the question this piece opened with — how much of Adidas’s rise was really Ye? — cut both ways. He helped build the climb, then handed them the bill on the descent. The Three Stripes are doing fine without him, the Yeezys are gone, and “bigger than Wal-Mart” is now a sentence wearing an asterisk the size of a billboard.
