KANYE WEST YEEZY ZINES
A Sizzling Visual Display Every Issue
Love him or hate him, Kanye West and his Yeezy collection are still going strong.
Few figures are as divisive in the fashion world as Kanye, but despite the fact that his minimalist and militaristic collections receive negative reviews from seemingly every fashion authority, his status as a global trendsetter and urban style leader is undeniable. West’s first foray into fashion came in 2009 with the release of the Air Yeezy shoe – a collaboration with Nike which made him the first non-athlete to be given a shoe deal with the brand. West has also collaborated with Louis Vuitton on sneaker lines, with A.P.C. on a menswear collection, and, of course, developed his YEEZY womenswear line. Despite the multitude of negative reviews of his collections, they’ve proved to be commercially successful (his latest sneaker sold out online in 12 minutes).
In addition to his fashion lines, West has also released “zines” to accompany (and further visually realize) his collections. There’s no text whatsoever in the zines, with further emphasizes the richly visual narrative. The Season 3-4 zine presents dark and atmospheric imagery from talented photographer Jackie Nickerson, but its emphatically not a look book. Rather, the clothes are photographed in lush, tactile close-ups, but the bodies receive the same treatment. The latest Season 6 zine presents West’s YEEZY footwear, apparel, and accessories in similar fashion (I can’t resist a good pun) to his previous zines, with Nickerson’s imagery in an oversized format. Members of the YEEZY cast are captured in and around West’s Calabasas studio during the aftermath of the 2017 wildfires there. The ashen landscape echoes the subtle, mineral-hued palette of the collection.
Whether or not you’re a fan of Kanye West’s output, he’s here to stay in the fashion world for the foreseeable future. If nothing else, his zines provide the sort of provocative imagery needed to make his collections palatable to a wider audience. Check out several images from the zines here, and who knows? Maybe you’ll look at Kanye West in a way you hadn’t before.
