Kanye West may be synonymous with sneakers, but it appears the fashion trailblazer has ditched footwear altogether after he was spotted barefoot while out in public.
On Thursday (August 3), photos surfaced of Ye and his wife, Bianca Censori, walking the streets of Italy with nothing on their feet. The married couple were, for the most part, otherwise clothed as the Chicago rapper rocked a black blazer and matching pants.
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Censori, meanwhile, barely concealed her curvy figure with a translucent crop top and low-hanging skirt, paired with beige-colored headwear. The couple’s wedding rings could also be seen in the paparazzi shots as they headed to a lunch date.
Page Six previously reported that Kanye and Censori, who quietly got married in January, were in Tuscany visiting a fabric factory, presumably for his Yeezy brand.
Going barefoot is perhaps a fitting choice for Kanye West, who has seen his multibillion-dollar fashion empire crumble over the last year due to his antisemitic views.
After wearing a controversial “White Lives Matter” shirt at his Yeezy Season 9 fashion show last September and making a string of anti-Jewish comments on social media and in various interviews, adidas cut ties with Mr. West in October 2022, ending their lucrative Yeezy partnership.
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The collaboration, which began in 2013, birthed a number of innovative and in-demand sneakers such as the Boost 350, the 700 series and the Foam Runner.
Despite terminating the deal, adidas — faced with bleak financial forecasts and over $1 billion in leftover stock — began selling some of its Yeezy inventory this past May, with a portion of the profits being donated to social justice organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League.
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The sportswear giant announced in its latest financial update this week that they pulled in €400 million (roughly $437 million) from Yeezy sneakers between April and June this year.
Kanye’s separate partnerships with GAP and Balenciaga also ended last year, but the mass exodus doesn’t appear to have buried his Yeezy brand as he quietly hosted a Yeezy Season 10 show in Los Angeles in May.
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Meanwhile, going shoe-less appears to be Kanye West’s latest fashion M.O. The 46-year-old has been seen wearing unusual-looking sock shoes in recent months and even applied to trademark “YZY SOCK SHOES” in May.
In the documents, Ye offered a brief description of his yet-to-be-unveiled creation, writing: “Socks; socks with leather soles.”
