Sneaker News Steven Smith has officially parted ways with Kanye West’s YZY brand, per Fast Company. ‘Ye reportedly fired Smith in August; the footwear designer states that he reached a tipping point to where he could no longer work with Kanye effectively.
Unquestionably one of the most influential sneaker designers of the modern era, Smith has a long and diverse resume creating timeless classics for Nike, New Balance, Reebok, and YEEZY. He’s most remembered for the New Balance 550, Zoom Spiridon Cage, the Instapump Fury, the Yeezy 700, and much more, all while supplying the foremost “Dad Shoes” such as the New Balance 574 and New Balance 997.
Smith unofficially joined the adidas YEEZY team back in 2016, hired by Kanye West in the most Kanye West way possible. During the Saint Pablo tour of Fall 2016, Kanye told adidas he wanted to meet Smith and ended up flying him out to his Detroit show. It was on stage that ‘Ye stated “I got the master futurist—right there. He and I are going to fuck shit up and show you stuff from the future.” Smith, of course, had no clue what was happening.
As Design Director, the YEEZY brand took off, raking in billions a year. He contributed to a number of pivotal designs such as the Yeezy 700, which many argue revived the “chunky” dad shoe movement in the mid-late 2010s. Perhaps the magnus opus during his time with Kanye was the Foam Runner, a unibody slip-on shoe made of a foam material, itself made from recycled algae.
The adidas YEEZY empire toppled in 2022 when the parent brand chose to part ways with Kanye for his very public anti-semitic rhetoric. Since then, adidas has committed to liquidating the remaining YEEZY footwear stock, going as far as slashing prices up to 70% off. Smith stayed with ‘Ye under the independent YZY line, designing anything the embattled artist asked for. It reached a breaking point for Smith when West announced he would be launching YZY pornography.
To date, YZY is best known for the Yeezy Pods, essentially a long sock with rubber pads fixed onto the bottoms. Prices were slashed to just $20, with many making purchases out of sheer curiosity.
