Footwear News published an interview with Bjørn Gulden, the CEO of Adidas, on June 3, 2024. During the interview, he shared more details about the current situation between Adidas, Kanye West, and Yeezy.
After the company was left with a huge inventory when the two brands parted ways, they had to decide what to do. The company is currently continuing to sell Adidas Yeezy products, hoping to clear the stock by 2025.
According to his statements, when he returned to Adidas in January 2023, the brand was on the verge of parting ways with Kanye West (following the scandal from October 2022). After the partnership came to an end, Adidas considered several options when it realized it had Yeezy stock worth 1.3 billion dollars.
The decision made by Gulden and his team was to sell the products (instead of having them scrapped – thrown away). The company also announced that it would donate part of the revenue generated from Yeezys. As a result, starting from May 2023, Adidas began selling the remaining products both through its own website and with the help of Adidas partner stores (local retail shops such as Footshop or Tike).
At Adidas’ annual shareholders’ meeting in May 2024, Gulden explained the state of the company as soon as he began speaking. The company impressed everyone with its first-quarter results – as a result, Adidas shares went up.
To continue the series of restocks in 2024, Adidas scheduled several sales events through the Adidas Confirmed app. This time, partner retailers did not receive any Yeezy products. Later, starting in May 2024, Adidas changed its strategy, scheduling sales events directly through the Adidas website. Partner retailers did not receive any Yeezy products then either.
According to the Footwear News interview, Adidas managed to sell Yeezy products worth 150 million euros in the first quarter of 2024. However, the company still has stock valued at 200 million euros and plans to sell these pairs by the end of 2024, possibly even at their purchase price. He also made a point of mentioning that the brand is just as strong without the presence of the Yeezy sub-brand.
The Adidas CEO mentioned the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1, Terrex Agravic Speed Ultra, Predator 24 and especially the A.E.1, calling them the innovative models the company is currently proud of. He also spoke about fashion collaborations, noting that these have been at the core of the brand since the 2000s, when they laid the foundations for partnerships with Y-3 and Stella McCartney.
We recommend that you read the full interview with Bjørn Gulden on the Footwear News website.
On another note, you can still join the latest Adidas Yeezy drops from 2024. See below for a short guide on how to download the Adidas Confirmed app in Romania.
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Vlad Ciutacu is a writer based in The Hague, Netherlands. He has been working in the footwear industry for more than a decade, with hundreds of pairs in his collection. His favourite models are the Air Jordan 1 and the Nike SB Dunk Low Pro. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
