Kanye West, of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, is moving forward with a lawsuit against the retail chain Walmart, for selling knockoff versions of his Yeezy shoes. Kanye first came out with his own shoe back in 2009 when he partnered with Nike to create the Air Yeezys. He continued to release shoes with different brands until his shoe empire truly blew up in 2013. At this point, Kanye chose to dissolve his contract with Nike and entered into a partnership with Adidas worth $10 million. It was then that the Yeezys everyone is familiar with today were born. After releasing his first shoe, the hype around the release of each shoe continued to build and has yet to go down.
A few years ago, Kanye expressed his discontent that the Yeezy sneakers were sold at such high prices. The exclusivity of the sneakers also became an issue, with people getting injured while waiting in line to get themselves a pair. In order to make the sneaker available to more people and avoid these issues in the future, Kanye decided to make some changes. He began to produce sneakers more frequently and would release the different colored options at a faster pace. Kanye has been able to keep his goal of making Yeezys a shoe for everyone a reality, and it's now easier for everyone to get a pair. Well, maybe it's too easy for Kanye's liking.
Kanye is now taking the steps to sue retail giant Walmart for selling knockoff versions of his popular Yeezy shoes. As reported by The New York Post, the weird-looking shoes, called the Foam Runner slides, began selling last year for the retail price of $75. Despite the internet mocking the shoes and comparing them to Crocs, they sold out instantly online. The version sold at Walmart sells anywhere between $21.99 and $33.99 for a pair. According to Kanye and his legal team, they have asked the chain multiple times to take the shoes off the racks, but claim their requests have gone ignored.
There are a few things Kanye is afraid of when it comes to the selling of the knockoff sliders. Firstly, he is concerned with it resulting in a lack of sales of his own shoes. In his opinion, consumers who buy the knockoffs would have bought the real Yeezy Foam Sliders had the counterfeit version not been offered. With consumers buying counterfeit shoes, Kanye's income is less. Kanye is also concerned with the reputation of his brand. The Walmart shoes are reportedly of lesser quality than the original, which is hurting Kanye's reputation. Consumers have left reviews saying the product ripped shortly after buying it and called the shoe "garbage." The shoes have been removed from the Walmart website, but can still be found in stores.
Should the public brace itself for a Kanye rant on Twitter about Walmart? Kanye is not happy about Walmart's decision to continue to sell fake versions of his shoes. Only time will tell what will happen between the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star and the popular retail chain.
Source: The New York Post
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June 25, 2021 at 11:57PM
