What Makes Kanye West’s “Yeezy” Shoes So Hype?

Yeezys. You’ve seen them, I’ve seen them, we’ve all seen them. If you’ve ventured onto social media, you’ve likely had some encounters with the trendy articles of apparel. What makes them so special? Let’s talk about it. 

Firstly, what is “Yeezy?” Most prominently, Yeezys take forms of shoes. Yes, the seemingly ordinary article of clothing that everyone wears. That’s what the hype is about. They’re just shoes. 

However, people don’t buy the product for their quality alone. These $1,000 shoes can’t respond to your emails, make your dinner, or build a house for you. Yet, while the shoes don’t have a practical application, their brand imaging makes the product feel extremely enticing. 

Founded by Hip-Hop and R&B mogul Kanye West, the Yeezy brand sells an artistic vision. West has utilized the concepts of streetwear, exclusivity, accessibility (yes, I understand that’s contradictory. I’ll explain later), and an overall image to earn their considerable success. 

Initially, the Yeezy shoe line was an extremely exclusive product array. The shoes sold out almost instantly and resold for hundreds more than their original retail price. West built the notion that his shoes were extremely coveted, and that you’d be lucky to have the mere opportunity of spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of sneakers. Doing so wasn’t incredibly difficult, as he had already created a personal following from his music endeavors. 

The Yeezy line broke the internet, and sneakerheads around the world yearned to own a pair. Why? Because they’re engineered by the man who lives on our playlists. Not only that, the promotions marketed Yeezys as “the shoe,” and the brand built an image around refined, yet trendy, exclusivity. 

Upon building this reputation, the brand became a public spectacle. People waited for hours to grab a pair of his sneakers, and everyone was hungry for a shot at having an official Yeezy shoe. 

So, what did Kanye do? He made more. Around the time of the “Yeezy 350 V2,” he began to mass-produce. Since Yeezy was the holy grail of streetwear, the increased accessibility was an instant success. Interestingly enough, the stigma around the line has stayed relatively stagnant, and they haven’t lost their crown as the leader of hype footwear. While the shoes still retail for around $220, it’s biome significantly more comfortable to obtain a pair. 

To answer our original question, there is absolutely nothing special about the Yeezy clothing line. The products are relatively standard, but the name represents so much more. When you buy a pair of Yeezys, you’re buying a piece of Kanye West’s vision, and that’s what sells out stock.