Despite some issues between Kanye and Nike, his Air Yeezy II’s saw a surprise release.
Today (Feb. 9) saw the release of the Air Yeezy II shoes, known largely by their nickname, the Red Octobers. Eleven minutes after the surprise announcement they were sold out. After just one tweet (from Nike).
For those kick enthusiasts out there, don’t fret. You can still buy them on the aftermarket – if you’re willing to drops hundreds upon hundreds of dollars that is.
Of course, part of the surprise stems from Kanye’s past frustrations with Nike, causing him to sign a deal with Addidas. A lot of this had to do with availability.Kanye West was frustrated with Nike’s reluctance to take his brand past the specialty designer market. He wanted them in every store front. Of this, he said (back in 2013):
“[Nike CEO] Mark Parker tried to son me. Yes. Son me because I am the sun and I will shine bright. And when I don’t have as much money as a billionaire and when I don’t have the factories that, that dude has over there, what I do have is my voice. Ain’t no corporation that can take me away from my voice and I’m going to scream at the top of my motherfucking mountain as loud as I want. Anything I want. Whenever I want. Is that crazy? So I’m going to make the announcement on Monday with the corporation that finally let me get an opportunity to create.”
If that sounds like another typical Kanye rant, you wouldn’t necessarily be remiss – but note that his intentions are seemingly valid ones, this time around. Kanye is very passionate about all of his ventures equally, it’s hard not to blame him for wanting his shoes to have a life expectancy outside of the exorbitant dealings of the very few dire enthusiasts. Not to mention the rather shady tradings in the aftermarket.
While these Red Octobers won’t see widespread availability anytime soon, you can at least check them out on the gallery (and later, perhaps, on Ebay – if you dare).
