adidas is selling off its leftover YEEZY sneaker stock sooner than expected, making summer 2023 one for the history books: the last-ever official drop of adidas YEEZY sneakers or slides.
In mid-May 2023, adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden told investors that adidas had plans to sell off YEEZY shoes from its $1 billion-plus backstock of leftover product as part of a major charity sale.
Gulden didn't confirm whether or not adidas has aims to produce its own YEEZY sneakers, as the company itself insinuated in 2022, but it doesn't really matter for now: this forthcoming sale would be the last opportunity to buy real-deal YEEZY sneakers direct from adidas.
So, when is adidas' YEEZY sale?
Rumors on social media initially suggested that adidas would sell its final YEEZY sneakers on June 1, 2023.
Highsnobiety reached out to adidas to confirm the whispers on May 18. The following day, adidas issued a press release on the matter.
Therein, adidas confirmed that it "will begin selling some of the remaining inventory of adidas YEEZY products" beginning May 31, 2023 on adidas' website — remember that the YEEZY SUPPLY website was shuttered in 2023.
Also notice that adidas is only selling some of the leftover YEEZY sneakers to start.
On May 25, adidas' CONFIRMED app released two pairs of YEEZY Boosts, which hopeful customers can enter a raffle to secure until May 31. CONFIRMED also sent out an e-mail announcing that more YEEZY footwear will be available on the app beginning June 1.
"A significant amount" of funds generated by the adidas YEEZY sale will be donated to anti-hate organizations like the Anti-Defamation League(ADL) and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.
adidas will be selling YEEZY sneakers "initiated in 2022 for sale in 2023" and "additional releases of existing inventory are currently under consideration" but not confirmed.
“After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining adidas YEEZY products," adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden said in the statement. "Selling and donating was the preferred option among all organizations and stakeholders we spoke to. ... There is no place in sport or society for hate of any kind and we remain committed to fighting against it.”
“At a time when antisemitism has reached historic levels in the U.S. and is rising globally, we appreciate how adidas turned a negative situation into a very positive outcome," Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO, continued. “Their leadership, in not only condemning anti-Jewish hate but lending their support for education and other initiatives, is exemplary and a model for other public companies to emulate.”
Why is adidas selling YEEZY sneakers, by the way? Didn't adidas cut ties with YEEZY founder Kanye "Ye" West over his anti-Semitic tantrums in late 2022?
Yes indeed but, even after it distanced itself from Ye, adidas was left with a massive amount of unsold YEEZY sneakers, fueling mass speculation that adidas and Ye would reunite to either continue the YEEZY partnership or at least create something new.
It now seems extraordinarily unlikely that adidas and Ye will ever actually get back together (and good riddance to Ye), though.
adidas and Ye's combative relationship isn't even all that new, either.
Much like 2023's charity sale, adidas' 2022 YEEZY Day drops didn't receive Ye's blessing and provoked Ye to issue a rambling statement decrying adidas' transgressions.
Ye, for his own part, has embarked on a series of bizarre personal ventures as part of his widespread YEEZY relaunch.
First, he quietly stret-cast models for his presumed YEEZY SEASON 10 fashion show, where the bald participants wore extremely tight T-shirts and stood, cult-like, in an undeveloped industrial space on Melrose Ave that's presumed to be the new YEEZY headquarters.
Ye has also entirely divested himself of the YEEZY sneaker game. Ye is no longer wearing shoes, for one, just tights and socks — sometimes not even socks.
Similarly, Ye's provocative new YEEZY campaigns feature his new wife, former YEEZY employee Bianca Censori wearing hardly any clothing, no footwear in sight.
It's pretty clear that if YEEZY fans want to get their hands on some actual sneakers, they'd better prepare their trigger fingers for adidas' YEEZY sale.
This article was published on May 18, 2023, and updated on May 25, 2023
