Kanye West Bombs at Fashion Week with Frightening A.P.C. Collab
On Saturday night, Kanye West presented his second collection for A.P.C. for a select group of editors at Paris Fashion Week. (You may recall his first shot, which included a $120 "Hip-Hop T-Shirt.") Among the six looks were hooded military coats paired with balaclavas, parachute pants, Timberland-style boots, and a giant blanket worn as a cape. The rapper/producer also prepared a monologue (read the whole thing on Forbes) to accompany his collection, because, of course he did. Pictures emerged amidst tragic reviews on Twitter, some saying it was "terrible" while one guy felt it was "inspired by a blend of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's Shredder meets Osama bin Ladin." In other words: scary.
But West came prepared with an elaborate excuse for why his fashion designs aren't up to snuff. Yeezy claims he really wanted to go to Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, but designer Louise Goldin told him he was too famous. "So I basically had to learn clothes through Style.com, through Scott the Sartorialist, through Tommy Ton. And luckily, I was rich enough to make mistakes and learn just by being a fashion victim-which I definitely have been a fashion victim-and to flip it from being a fashion victim to maybe a fashion icon to a person who can give an opinion. And that's what I'm in the process of doing, so I just want everyone to be patient with me."
Hang on a minute. West admitted he makes mistakes and has been a fashion victim? Shocking! But that doesn't mean he's gotten soft on us. West still think he's the best rapper on the planet and can thrive in the fashion business.
"It's like if you had a housekeeper, and she was the best housekeeper in the whole world, and she said she had the idea to start being a florist. You would pay her three times as much to not follow her dream of being a florist. And what people don't realize is actually my music is better when I'm allowed to eat my food and drink at the same time."
While some editors will inevitably drink the Kanye Kool-Aid, others insist he has no creative talent for fashion and merely steal ideas from his favorite labels like Balmain and DRKSHDW. Many fashion-obsessed celebrities dabble with fashion and fail, while some, like Jessica Simpson, have unexpectedly experienced mainstream success. Perhaps Kanye could benefit from a fashion course, or perhaps another dose of humility.
