GOLD COAST — Kanye West's first fashion line hit Chicago stores Thursday, and local shoppers apparently had no problem dishing out three (or four) figures for the enigmatic rapper's debut designs.
About 200 shoppers lined up this morning outside the Adidas Y-3 boutique at 50 E. Oak St. for Yeezy Season 1, store manager Donato Pagtakhan said. Though he wouldn't disclose sales figures, Pagtakhan did say West's new, chocolate-colored Adidas Yeezy 950 Duckboot quickly sold out during its Thursday debut. Pagtakhan expects he'll run out of other boot colors by the time the store closes shop tonight.
"The crowd was controlled so that was good," Pagtakhan said. "It was good. It was nice."
A representative at nearby Barneys New York, 15 E. Oak St., also said they sold out of West's new boots for men, which cost $585. Representatives of Wicker Park-based boutiques RSVP Gallery, 1753 N. Damen Ave. and Saint Alfred, 1531 N. Milwaukee Ave., which also carried the line Thursday, did not immediately return messages.
That boot price is enough to buy two pairs of most Air Jordans, or a flight from O'Hare to basically anywhere in the continental United States. But buying the new Yeezys could be considered thrifty compared to other West merchandise launched Thursday: from a pair of sweatpants running more than $1,000 to $600 for a black cotton hoodie to $3,250 for a fur-lined bomber jacket.
West, 38, ascended to worldwide fame as a musician, but has stressed he's been passionate about designing clothes since he was a child. The Chicago rapper (and honorary Ph.D) who calls himself the "Louis Vuitton Don" even went on a Twitter tirade in February after the founder of New York Fashion Week lambasted his "attitude."
All we have are our dreams, and you can step on our dreams and ideas all you want, but we won’t stop fighting.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 20, 2015Though Thursday marked West's full-fledged retail debut, it's not the first time he's sold clothes here: He ran an Oak Street pop-up shop associated with his "Yeezus" tour two years ago.
If you missed the sales Thursday, no worries: West's Yeezy sneakers will hit stores Nov. 14.
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