Kanye West Makes Surprise Appearance at New York Fashion Week's Vogue World Event
Sean Zanni/Getty Images for Vogue
Vogue's Vogue World runway show during New York Fashion Week brought out the VIPs .
The over-the-top event held on Monday in New York City also brought Kanye West out for a surprise appearance. The rapper and fashion mogul showed up in a brown hoodie with the hood pulled up covered with a black coat. He wore matching trousers and brown boots to complete the look. Sporting a full beard, West, 45, mingled with the likes of Jared Leto, Anna Wintour, Gigi Hadid and more at the star-studded event.
West's appearance at Vogue World comes amid his public feuding with Adidas over his Yeezy line. It all started in May this year, when Adidas released its Adilette 22 sandals, which bear a bit of a resemblance to West's Yeezy slides. Thus, the rapper took to Instagram on June 13 to call out the brand, according to Highsnobiety. West reportedly said in a now-deleted caption that the slides are "a fake YEEZY made by adidas themselves."
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"I'm not standing for this blatant copying no more," West continued, per Highsnobiety, taking aim at Adidas CEO Kasper Rørsted. "This is for everyone who wants to express themselves but feel they can't cause they'll loose [sic] their contract or be called crazy... These shoes represent the disrespect that people in power have to the talent."
Adidas has not publicly acknowledged West's comments, nor has the brand responded to PEOPLE's request for comment on the matter, but the rapper posted on social media earlier this month that Adidas "don't want no more smoke." In the now-gone post, West promised that Gap, whom he also has a collaboration with, is next on his list.
West told Bloomberg in an interview published Monday that he's done working with other corporations. "It's time for me to go it alone," he said. "It's fine. I made the companies money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry. Now it's time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience."
West goes on to detail his concerns with the companies he's worked with, namely Adidas and Gap, saying that "no one should be held in that position where people can steal from them" and then, in theory, pay them to "shut up."
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According to the Yeezy creator, this is what "destroys creativity" and "destroys innovation."
Bloomberg reports that West is in contract with Adidas until 2026 and with Gap until 2030, proving an obstacle in his current battle with the companies to have things his way. He claimed, though, that he's "playing nice" right now.
His goal, he said, is to get royalties from Adidas on the shoes he's created so he can stash it away for his kids. He shared an Instagram picture of his kids in early September, which he later deleted, acknowledging that they are his driving force.
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"Some things are bigger than money," he wrote of the children he shares with Kim Kardashian, sons Psalm, 3, and Saint, 6 and daughters Chicago, 4, and North, 9. "My kids have no idea what daddy has gone through this past few days alone to secure the brand that will one day be handed down to them, God Willing."
"These future leaders will never back down, be stolen from, and forced to compromise who they are for the check," he concluded.
