Kanye West once predicted that one day everyone will be able to afford a pair of Yeezy trainers. Well, it seems like that day has finally arrived, with this formerly red hot brand now spotted being sold for half price at an adidas outlet store in Dubai.
Steven Smith, who went viral a few years ago for wearing Yeezys despite being well past his teenage years, snapped piles of the trainers being offered at heavy discounts on Sunday, with the caption: “It happened. Yeezy is now at adidas outlet stores in Dubai.”
Once the stuff of legend, flying off shelves and with prized designs changing hands for huge sums, Yeezy trainers now seem to be sharing the fate of every other shoe designed, with excess stock and unpopular colours and designs being liquidated at half price.
I am happy adidas is putting them in the market at 50 per cent off or even more, so more people can enjoy them
Steven Smith,
shoe collector
First released in 2009, Yeezy trainers, the brain child of West, proved so popular, that adidas invited the rapper to bring the collection under its umbrella in 2013, offering a financial deal that was its largest offer to a non-athlete.
Fuelled by West’s personal draw, his unconventional designs and his sophisticated release strategy that kept audiences on tenterhooks with unexpected midnight drops, Yeezys were possibly the most famous trainer in the world at one point, prompting Forbes to describe it as “one of the great retail stories of the century” in 2020.
Seemingly untouchable, every design was snapped up by an eager audience, generating sales worth more than $1 billion a year.
Then it all went wrong, with West's very public self destruction in 2022, resulting in his being dropped from major deals by adidas and Gap, effectively wiping millions off his fortune. While adidas had apparently been tolerating increasingly poor behaviour from West behind the scenes for years, when he posted racist and antisemitic rants, the brand was forced to make a public stand and sever all contact.
Unsure of what to do with the warehouses of unsold Yeezy stock, adidas paused all sales as it gauged public reaction, later announcing it would resume selling Yeezys at the start of this year, quietly restoring them to the shop floor.
Speaking with The National, Smith says old stock trainers being sent to outlets is not surprising, even if designed by Kanye West. “I am a Yeezy fan myself and I am happy adidas is putting them in the market at 50 per cent off or even more, so more people can enjoy them.
“But this is old stock, so it is not big deal they are being sold at outlets; even Jordans are sold at outlets,” he explains.
Responses to Smith's post have been vocal, with some criticising the shoes on sale as being designs and colours not sanctioned by West, with one message reading: “These the unapproved colourways Ye was talking about.” Smith disagrees.
“The Yeezy 350v2 compact in black is there, and it's by Kanye,” he notes. Trainers are subjective, Smith adds, so while the colours on offer may not be to everyone's taste, “as well as being comfortable, you have to want to wear them, so if you don't like the shoe, don't buy it”, he says.
Other comments show that appetite for Yeezys is still strong, with some posting about travelling to the UAE to stock up on designs. “How much is a ticket to Dubai?” writes one person.
Could this price slash be the latest public humiliation for West? It comes after his fall from grace, public divorce from Kim Kardashian and recent efforts to fashion his new wife Bianca Censori (although it's unclear whether they are legally married) into a facsimile of Kardashian.
Are half-price trainers a sign that West has lost his dominance of pop culture and influence or is it, as Smith suggests, just a company recouping its investment? “With warehouses full of Yeezys, what else is adidas going to do? Of course, it is going to liquidate that inventory as, after all, these are two years old,” says Smith.
While adidas seems to be making no such move in America, there are reports of similar sales cropping up in Europe. Is this the start of a huge, final sell-off or merely good business practice, to clear the way for new designs? We'll have to wait and see.
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
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Stage result
1. Pascal Ackermann (GER) Bora-Hansgrohe, in 3:29.09
2. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto-Soudal
3. Rudy Barbier (FRA) Israel Start-Up Nation
4. Dylan Groenewegen (NED) Jumbo-Visma
5. Luka Mezgec (SLO) Mitchelton-Scott
6. Alberto Dainese (ITA) Sunweb
7. Jakub Mareczko (ITA) CCC
8. Max Walscheid (GER) NTT
9. José Rojas (ESP) Movistar
10. Andrea Vendrame (ITA) Ag2r La Mondiale, all at same time
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 540hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 600Nm at 2,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Kerb weight: 1580kg
Price: From Dh750k
On sale: via special order
Specs
Engine: 2-litre
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 255hp
Torque: 273Nm
Price: Dh240,000
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Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18
Romarinho, Brazil
Lassana Diarra, France
Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan
Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco
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Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The view from The National
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UAE SQUAD
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Other promotions
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- Jones the Grocer will have their limited edition Australia Day menu available until the end of the month (January 31)
- Australian Vet in Abu Dhabi (with locations in Khalifa City A and Reem Island) will have a 15 per cent off all store items (excluding medications)
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