Kanye and Adidas are on the outs

Adidas is reviewing its partnership with Kanye West, the German sneaker and apparel maker revealed yesterday. To which the rapper-turned-fashion-mogul replied: “F––––– ADIDAS I AM ADIDAS.”

🤔 How did we get here?... The Graduation and College Dropout creator signed an agreement with Adidas in 2016 to co-design, manufacture, and distribute Yeezy-branded products. The press release touted future plans for retail stores, as well as expanding the partnership to create performance-intended designs.

At the time, Adidas billed the move as “the most significant partnership ever created between an athletic brand and a non-athlete.” It didn’t disappoint. Sales took off and continued to climb, reaching $1.7 billion last year – a 31% year-over-year jump that netted Yeezy $191 million in royalties.

But cracks started to emerge. In a series of now-deleted Instagram posts, the rapper turned fashion mogul called out Adidas for allegedly copying his designs, as well as not giving him enough control over his products or opening up physical Yeezy stores – similar to the grievances causing Ye to terminate his Gap partnership last month.

👀 Looking ahead… While the review is being conducted, Adidas and Yeezy will co-manage existing products. Though one man should have all that power, according to Ye. “It’s time for me to go it alone,” he told Bloomberg in an interview last month. “No more companies standing in between me and the audience.”

• Yeezy’s partnerships with Adidas and Gap were recently valued between $3.2 billion and $4.7 billion by UBS, per a private document reviewed by Bloomberg.