KANYE WEST
Kanye West is a hip-hop and pop culture superstar best known for his music, taste in fashion, and sneakers. He is noted as one of the most well-versed sneakerheads in the celebrity community and is consistently seen wearing select sneakers in his music videos, live shows, and in public. He is also the first non-athlete to his his own Nike signature shoe called the Air Yeezy, which debuted in 2009. The Air Yeezy 2 is scheduled for a release in June 2012.
Plenty of sneakerheads across the globe are no doubt reeling in collective pain upon hearing the news of the hotly anticipated Nike Air Yeezy 2 being bumped back to June. And while nothing can truly alleviate the pain, some more high res images should help at least a little bit. That’s what we have for you here, as Complex goes behind the scenes of the Yeezy 2 for a special feature on the details and background of the shoe, as well as some design sketches that give an insight to the creative process behind the Nike Air Yeezy 2 before it came to its final fruition. Stay with us after the jump for the full gallery of the Nike Air Yeezy 2 ‘Wolf Grey’ and let us know if you think it will surpass the first model in terms of release day frenzy.
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As we already know from Watch the Throne’s ’Paris’ track, if you’re sufficiently successful, people will follow you even when they don’t personally have a connection to the source of your swag. And so it goes with the Nike Air Yeezy 2 Kanye West wore on stage during the WTT tour, a shoe so highly anticipated that campouts began back in late February in the face of all reason (and without a concrete date to consider). Those select few whose hourly profit potential is plummeting with each delay find themselves facing the next in a series of delays that now has the Air Yeezy 2 on track for a June drop, which if you remember back to 2009 was the month that the original Air Yeezy shipped its last of three colorways. Let us know how you’re coping with the anticipation and stick with Sneaker News for updates including the exact Air Yeezy 2 release date. via Complex
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Where are you Yeezy 2? The answer to that question is exactly where you want to be on April 13th, a date that unlike the previously circulating March drop rumors is being backed by the very retailers that will have the first Nike Air Yeezy 2 in store (with some UK spots claiming they’ll have stock a day earlier on the 12th). The Wolf Grey and Pure Platinum Air Yeezy 2 is a slightly more aggressive follow-up to the ‘Zen Grey’ Yeezy, this pair undoubtedly more texturally rich than its forebear, but can they produce the same frenzy as the first drops in April 2009? Will you even have the scratch necessary to wrangle a pair at the $250 MSRP with all the heat that’s dropped earlier this year and more soon to come?! Another major milestone in what’s shaping up as the single biggest year in the history of sneakerhead culture, you’ll find the ‘Wolf Grey’ Air Yeezy 2 at top-end Nike Sportswear locations like Solebox in Berlin on April 13th, 2012.
Nike Air Yeezy 2
Wolf Grey/Pure Platinum
508214-010
04/13/12
$250
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Behold the Nike Air Yeezy 2 in all its glory! After countless peeks via paparazzi shots and camera phone pics, we finally get our first set of detailed images of Kanye West’s second Nike shoe. Here we see the Wolf Grey/Pure Platinum colorway from multiple angles and exposing all sorts of goodies like our best look yet at the Horus-inspired tongue logo and some additional Yeezy hieroglyphics on the velcro beneath the the midfoot strap. We also get a better indication of the luxurious upper materials, the Torch mesh in the tongue, the chunky metallic lace tips and a nice crisp view of the Yeezy 2 dustbag seen last night. These are set to hit worldwide retailers like Singapore’s Limited Edt on April 13th, so dig into these pics and you’d better start gameplanning for the release if you’re hoping to get a pair. Stay tuned for more pics and further release information coming soon. via streething
Nike Air Yeezy 2
Wolf Grey/Pure Platinum
508214-010
04/13/12
$250
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It takes a marketing mind as shrewd as Kanye West’s to recognize that literally any kind of attention equals more money, so perhaps the conspiracy theories should question whether he’s paying the infamous secret blogger to make anonymous Illuminati accusations as yet one more way to attract more eyes. Kanye has embraced the chatter linking him to our supposed lizard (or is it alien?) overlords in a variety of ways of late, everything from that infamous Horus chain and its Egyptian ties to the theme and title of Watch the Throne with its privileged elite perspective.
Tinfoil hats will probably be able to find even more connections, but the one that was literally right under our noses without most folks knowing it is a shared iconography on the Nike Air Yeezy 2‘s tongue and dustbag. This pyramid-backed Horus insignia is just the latest in a long line of increasingly skyward reaching images from a guy who’s continued pushed the boundaries of mainstream hip-hop, and heaven only knows the kind of frenzy these are going to cause upon the first release on April 13th. Click through to see more of the Air Yeezy 2′s dustbag and stick with Sneaker News for the latest. via teamfreshh on NT
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The Air Jordan IV ‘White/Cement’ released in mid-February, causing Nike’s online store to retreat and re-launch three hours after the midnight release date. If that doesn’t show how highly-coveted the White/Cement IVs were, just check out three of hip-hop’s biggest names wearing the sneaker in question – all in the same week. Jay-Z was spotted wearing ‘em during a night out with wife Beyonce, Kanye rocked ‘em at a club, and Nas took them to the stage at SXSW. Did you cop your White/Cements, or are you regretting on passing up on them? Check out Jay-Z, Kanye, and Nas below and let us know what you think.
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Next to last year’s Nike Mag 2011 release, the Air Yeezy 2 has been Nike’s best kept sneaker secrets in quite a long span of time. The looming release has been approached with a level of nervousness from both the community of consumers as well as the retailers and Nike itself; just how much mayhem could possibly surround the most stirring releases of 2012? Continuing the unfolding story of the Air Yeezy 2, we stumbled upon some interesting new information regarding the logo spotted on the Air Yeezy 2; based on the findings of NT member youbigdummy, the new logo appears to be inspired by the Bird Gods of Ancient Egypt, which runs consistent to Kanye’s personal interest/infatuation with Egyptian deities and their versatility as iconic symbols in fashion.
You might even recollect Kanye’s mind-boggling 24K gold Horus chain and pyramid rings during his appearance at the 2010 BET Awards, which generated a ton of interest from various pop-culture blogs worldwide; the chain worn around his neck represented the Bird God known as Horus, who is recognized as the God of War and the God of the Sky, so Kanye’s intense affinity to such a powerful icon could, quite frankly, be very well understood. With such a profound sense and conceptualization of fashion, it’s very clear that a lot of thought has gone into the Air Yeezy 2 design, and his demand for perfection is likely one reason why the Air Yeezy 2 never seemed to find the right time for a release – until now. Your thoughts on this newfound detail? Let us know in the comments area below.
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Sneaker News readers voted the Nike Air Yeezy 2 as the most anticipated sneaker release of 2012 in our year-end Sneaker News Reader’s Choice Poll, beating out the two blockbuster Air Jordan Retros by significant margins. That notion still remains, but it’s becoming a difficult task to track the progress of the Air Yeezy 2 with Nike keeping such a tight lid on the project. This past Friday, Sneaker News was provided some information regarding a third colorway of the Nike Air Yeezy 2, but it appears that for now, just two colorways will release – the Black/Solar Red, which has been on Kanye’s feet over the last few months, and the Wolf Grey/Pure Platinum, commonly referred to as the ‘Zen Grey’. Another significant piece of information is that the rumored release of March 23rd is looking to be unlikely, with the release rumored to be pushed back to a later date (but not far after). If you want the most up-to-date information regarding the Nike Air Yeezy 2 release, you know where to keep in tuned, so let us know which of the two confirmed colorways you’d prefer to have, and stick with Sneaker News for more updates. Many thanks to Jack for the info.
Nike Air Yeezy 2
Black/Solar Red
508214-006
Wolf Grey/Pure Platinum
508214-010
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