The renowned sports clothing brand ‘Adidas’ made an announcement to combat antisemitism on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 and has promised to grant over $150 million to other forms of hate through donations from the sales of Yeezy shoes, last year in 2023.
The company has followed the termination of their partnership with the artist ‘Ye’ who was formerly known as Kanye West.
The sports clothing and accessories brand ended its collaboration with ‘Ye’ in October 2022 because of his antisemitic and offensive remarks on social media and also in interviews.
Reportedly, the German sportswear brand considers itself as a surplus of 1.2 billion euros, which counts to $1.3 billion, which is worth of Yeezy sneakers that are stored in warehouses.
Recently, this week Kanye West went on to F*ck Adidas rant as he celebrates his fifth Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 with “Carnival” thanking the collaborators such as Rich the Kid, Ty Dolla $ign and Playboi Carti.
To respond to this surplus, Adidas opted to release the remaining shoes in batches. Two batches were already released in 2023, and another was released in late February 2024. The batches earmarked a portion of the proceeds for anti-hate organizations.
Adidas will make donations to the Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change. The initiative is led by the social justice advocate Philonise Floyd who is known as the brother of George Floyd.
Ye took it to the social media and by sharing a photograph on Instagram he wrote, Rich Ty Carti and the supporters that stood by us through everything. This number #1 is for you it’s for the people who won’t be manipulated by the system and fuck Adidas and everybody who works there or with them.
“Anyone who goes to school with anyone who’s parents work at adidas, should just know that they tried to destroy me and here we are back with the number-1 song in the world Like the fake dude I saw in the lobby at the Ritz that works at Goat,” expressed ‘Ye’.
After this Yeezy designer then blasted off some “f**k yous” to all of his enemies that also included Adidas and Drake in a lengthy Instagram post and said, “You pussys don’t stand for shit And f**k everybody at the Daily Mail and F**k everybody at the fashion houses that sided with Gabby and Hailey Bieber.”
Ye added, “F**k each and every single one of y’all and f**k every Christian that watched me having my kids taken out of my control, that’s how I feel and it is f**k Drake for taking Durk right at the beginning of the Vultures role out and I will come back to y’all if I think of more f**k you’s.”
In 2023, the total net sales from the remaining Yeezy inventory at Adidas were calculated to approx. €750 million, down from over 1.2 billion euros in 2022 resulted in a profit of 300 million euros.
As per the sources, Adidas disclosed that more than 140 million euros, which counts to $152 million of the profit, has been or will be donated.
Moreover, the German sports athleisure brand ‘Adidas’ desire to invest its ability in achieving approximate operating profit of 268 million euros in 2023.
The company has saw a decrease of 60% from the previous year, with the decision to sell a significant portion of its Yeezy inventory and operational improvements.
According to the Wall Street Analyst Edouard Aubin who is working for Morgan Stanley, the collaboration ‘Yeezy’ between Kanye West and Adidas increased the profit of Adidas to 40%.
The relationship between Kanye West and Adidas was uneasy but the ‘Yeezy’ line has conquered a significant success. It helped adidas in becoming a leading footwear and sports gear.
However, the partnership turned out to be more harmful to Adidas than initially anticipated. The ‘Yeezy’ line has generated around €1.8 billion of sales annually, which comprises 8% of Adidas’ total revenue, and that turns out to be more than 40% of its profits.
CEO of Adidas – Bjorn Gulden, has acknowledged the challenges faced by the firm in 2023 and expressed optimism about the company’s performance and anticipated sales approx. €250 million from the remaining ‘Yeezy’ inventory this year.
The renowned brand has highlighted North America as a persistent challenge market that expects revenue to decline in the mid-single digits due to the ‘negative Yeezy impact’. It has led to a 16% drop in revenue in the region last year.
Notably, Adidas aims to maximise its operating profit to around €500 million, this year in 2024. The company plans to capitalize on high-demand shoe lines similar to Samba. The brand would like to introduce new products and leverage major sports events, such as the Paris Olympics, to drive growth.