Kanye West May Be Expanding His Empire In A Whole New Way
Recently being named a billionaire by Forbes, Kanye West is so much more than a musician by now. In addition to rapping, writing, and producing, he's a fashion mogul working with the likes of Adidas and Gap on his shoe brand, Yeezy. He's even opening a private Christian school in California called Donda Academy, named after his beloved late mother Donda West, with classes starting in fall 2022. While the school has yet to be in session, Ye has already assembled an all-star basketball team called the Donda Doves. Priorities!
Not only does Ye make money through his own businesses, but he also has a stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian's shapewear brand, SKIMS, so the money just keeps flowing. In fact, when it comes to musicians, only Bruce Springsteen and frequent frenemy Jay-Z earned more in 2021. However, Ye's next move could potentially make or break him in the ranking. While it's a daring one, he's pulled off bigger risks in the past and it should be interesting to see if he does it again.
Kanye West is planning brick-and-mortar stores
In a time when malls are dying and Prime Day is pretty much a national holiday, opening a chain of brick-and-mortar stores might not make sense to many, but this is Kanye West we're talking about here. TMZ recently learned that the rapper-turned-entrepreneur filed to trademark "YZYSPLY," pronounced as "Yeezy Supply," for online use as well as retail stores. Such a move would see Ye's famous shoes and clothing for sale at physical locations, including "G-strings, shirts, socks, hats, visors and tennis wear," according to TMZ's report.
Ye's past clothing has mostly been limited edition, and is known to be expensive. Looking at the current products in his Yeezy Gap collection — a plain t-shirt retails at $140, a basecall cap is $80, and a plain hoodie is $240 — fans may suspect the new line to be similar (if not more expensive) in price. Though the true pricing for the potential YZYSPLY locations is unknown, the truth of the matter is as fans are willing to pay, the prices are unlikely to drop too low. While this might be on the lower end for people into designer fashion, it's still a big commitment for the average shopper who has more affordable options elsewhere. At least brick-and-mortar locations would allow consumers to try on pieces before deciding to make such a big investment, and they'd get to save on shipping and handling.
Either way, the Yeezy brand has a cult following and its fans are more than excited. "Quitting my job to work there," wrote one Twitter user, while another tweeted, "He finna be a trillionaire if that happens."