So Appalled: Kanye West Fans Debate What to Do with All That Yeezy Merch

Sure, the tees and hoodies and sneakers are great. But what happens when your favorite designer goes MAGA?
Image may contain Text
Illustration by Megan Tatem

Kanye West's path to merch dominance started with his Yeezus tour: Back in 2013, he traveled to city after city with truckloads of covetable, resellable concert tees and more. Some showed off benign logos. Others, like items bearing the Confederate flag, embodied the audacity for which he’s always been both adored and abhorred. More album and tour merch followed through the years, as did West’s Yeezy brand—another opportunity for fans to explicitly buy into a man who courts controversy.

T-shirts adorned with a symbol of the Antebellum South’s racist history presented an ethical bind, but his fans could convince themselves they'd reappropriated the symbol and wore their Yeezus tour merch with pride. Still, none of West’s previous actions have elicited as much furor as his recent support of Donald Trump, his assertion that four centuries of slavery sounded like a choice—by the enslaved, or his cozying up to right-wing charlatans. At this point, it’s worth serious consideration that West might unveil red-pill-inspired attire in the future. And his recent behavior has created a quandary for even his biggest fans: What’s to be done with their assorted West-related apparel?

Jerome Baker lll, a DJ who owns Yeezus tour T-shirts and a small supply of Yeezy Boost 350s and Yeezy 500s, says he’s “staunchly” opposed to West’s MAGA turn. “I’m not wearing the sneakers, I’m not wearing the clothes, I’m not listening to the music,” he says. “I’m definitely taking a step back—indefinitely.”

Baker’s willing to confront what he describes as uncomfortable truths about West’s current state: “He’s evolving, this is what he’s [become], and if he’s evolved to the point where maybe you can’t rock with him anymore, then that’s cool.” But sometimes, (sole) rubber meets the road. Recently, Baker found himself in Los Angeles at the time of West’s TMZ diatribe with two footwear options: a pair of Black Cement Air Jordans 3s—and his Yeezy 350s. He initially decided to wear the Jordans because he didn’t want to be associated with West, but then reality intervened.

“So it’s my last day in L.A., the day after Kanye said all this crazy stuff, but his shoes are just so comfortable,” he explains. “I felt terrible wearing them, but they were comfortable and I was conflicted because my feet legitimately hurt.” Baker says that’s the last time he wore them but understands how his actions might seem hypocritical, discomfort notwithstanding. But Baker’s willingness to at least struggle with the question marks him as rare among the West fans I spoke to.


Watch Now:
Kanye West's Most Kanye Outfits Ever

JaVonte Harris, who owns a Yeezus tour Confederate flag hat, two tour shirts, and the most recent Yeezy Desert Rat sneakers, has no qualms wearing the clothes. “I feel like there’s probably tons of people who make clothes we wear who have probably said and even done worse,” he tells me. “So when it comes to clothes and stuff like that, if I’m wearing it, I don’t really see it as a representation of his thoughts or feelings. It’s just...clothes. It’s not the same to me as wearing, like, a Patriots or Eagles jersey and saying, ‘This is the team I’m rooting for.’ ”

But there’s no way to uncouple Kanye West and his work, not when his brand is semi-eponymous. Everything he puts his nickname on is imbued with his thoughts, feelings, and energy; the art is entangled with the artist. You can’t distance yourself from his opinions the way you might with an unpopular or flat-out obtuse team owner because West is simply too close to his merchandise. And given the relationship between merch and fandom—merch being an extension of the artist, and buying it a display of support—wearing the clothes can be interpreted as a ringing endorsement, especially when a cult of personality helps drive sales.

“When you put something on, walk out of the house and have a shirt or whatever on with a brand name on your back, you’re representing that brand for the moment,” says DJ Heat, who currently owns two pairs of Yeezy Boosts but doesn’t feel comfortable wearing them in light of West’s actions.

For Harris, it would take more than West amplifying Trumpism to reconsider his stance. “I guess if he said anything hateful or intentionally harmful to people, I would second guess wearing some of that stuff,” he says.

So what would it take for those on the opposite end of the spectrum to reconsider their positions on West’s clothing? DJ Heat hopes West has some plan for the greater good in store. Baker, on the other hand, says he needs to see “concrete evidence of change.”

Others clearly don’t, which is why $500,000 worth of Wyoming merch sold in 30 minutes, according to West's former manager Scooter Braun. GQ previously reported that the demand for Yeezy gear increased on the resale market following West’s Trump endorsement. Perhaps the spike in brand awareness was some top-of-mind outcome. Perhaps it was driven by fellow “free thinkers” beguiled by the blank check for absurdity West covets. Altogether, it’s evidence that many fans don’t care at all. Baker, however, believes they’ll have to reconcile that type of support should Kanye continue down this path.

“I just think it comes down to people being adults and making legitimately responsible decisions,” he says.