Kanye West has always embraced challenging and subverting popular opinion of him - both as a musician and as a designer - and his latest quotes certainly do just that. Famed for his ´motivational speeches´ to the fashion industry.West has long been accused of egotism garnering him a reputation as someone out of touch with reality. His new collection for Adidas Originals however, was conceived to create an accessible offering - and he's started talking unprecedented volumes of down-to-earth sense to go along with it.
"I had to learn what my voice was because I was still coming off of doing crocodile this and almost irresponsible takes on designing clothes to make up for a lack of skill," he told Style.com of his previous ready-to-wear collections, shown in Paris. "And now I have a real purpose to what I want to present. Adidas is the perfect place to be. If someone was to say, 'Hey, do you want to go to a high-end house now?' I'd absolutely say no. I'm not trying to [sound] presumptuous; I'm just saying that if in my wildest dreams I was presented with the opportunity, I would absolutely say no at this point. Because I'm only concerned with making beautiful products available to as many people as possible… It was about separation and I think high fashion is about elitism and separation, and I am completely opposed to that… [but] I'll still go to crash the Saint Laurent fashion show so I can be closer to the genius that Hedi Slimane has, even if the prices aren't genius, even though the prices are completely unfair."
Despite identifying himself as the "Robin Hood" of fashion, West admitted that he no longer considers himself a designer: "I don't want to disrespect designers by calling myself a designer; I just think I have a vision of something that I want to do." His vision, it seems, extends to his next career opportunity - ideally with one of America's biggest brands, with which he previously interned.
"One of my dreams was to be the head creative director of Gap," he said. "I'd like to be the Steve Jobs of Gap. Perhaps this is a bit of a demo tape. When I say Steve Jobs of Gap, I'm not talking about a capsule. I'm talking about full Hedi Slimane creative control of Gap is what I would like to do. And I can say this because it doesn't conflict with my Adidas contract."
Created without logos, West's Adidas collection takes inspiration from Helmut Lang, Martin Margiela and Raf Simons, he admitted, but also from the life he now leads.
"Workwear, utility, the idea of being a dad, no time to look in the mirror because I'm looking at my daughter, I'm looking at my wife. And I've got to take her to dance class," he said, adding: "Let me just explain something to everyone. I'm sorry. I'm a human being. I've got opinions, I'm not always right, I'm not always on time, I don't always say things in the proper way, but my intentions are always extremely pure. My purpose is extremely just."
Sensible, humble, devoted, realistic, contrite - is that really you Kanye?
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