Kanye West Responds to Fashion Week Creator’s Harsh Criticism
Kanye West debuted his Adidas Originals collection last week in Manhattan, and the reviews have been decidedly mixed. But the rapper-designer’s harshest critic could be New York Fashion Week creator Fern Mallis. “I’m kind of over Kanye,” she recently told Page Six. “I mean, I’m not a fan of his music, and the attitude and the agenda is not my style.” Now West has responded to Mallis’ criticisms via Twitter – using a zen-like tone.
“To Fern Mallis: I just want you to understand that attempting to do clothing has been very difficult,” West wrote. “And I have encountered countless amounts of bigotry along the way. I have millions of ideas, and I represent a new generation just trying to express themselves in a broken world.
“I don’t call myself a designer as I was not allowed to go to Saint Martins – because I was too famous by the time I realized I wanted to design. Fame is often looked down upon in the design world, so it’s actually been something I had to overcome.”
West ended the tweet spree with an adamant stance on pursuing his passions, even extending an offer to chat with Mallis over drinks. “All we have are our dreams, and you can step on our dreams and ideas all you want, but we won’t stop fighting,” he wrote. “We want to innovate, and we will win some day. If you wanna have a drink with me, book a table at [New York restaurant] Spotted Pig when I’m back in NY.”
Earlier this week, West talked with Style.com about his lofty designer goals. “One of my dreams was to be the head creative director of The Gap,” he said. “I’d like to be the Steve Jobs of The Gap.” He also responded to some of his negative reviews, comparing the critic-designer battle to a war with tanks. “I don’t read the reviews, because it’s some kind of backhanded compliment or something focusing on not the main point,” he said. “It was really difficult to do this. It would be difficult to make a proposition this simple for any designer. So many people told me that it had to have logos or it had to have this, but I fought for exactly what I wanted in my closet.”
In a revelatory new interview with hip-hop radio station Power 105, West spoke about Adidas’ limited-edition Yeezy Boost sneakers, which are being resold online for over $1,500. The rapper said he’s offended by the “separatism” in modern fashion – and in society: “You want to be upper class, you want to be first class, but when the plane crash, everybody dead.”