Remember when YEEZY and Derrick Rose got together to collaborate on a wild shoe that leaked but never actually dropped? No? Well, it was years ago. Still, fans could've had those viral shoes and much more, apparently.
In early July, footwear designer and YEEZY design alum Kitty Shukman provided first looks at some unreleased YEEZY x D. Rose samples that she helped create. These never-before-seen prototypes include a YEEZY RNNR-style shoe and a slide sandal concept with open-toed designs.
According to Shukman, the YEEZY x D. Rose shoes' distinctive ridge designs drew inspiration from fallen trees that she spotted in the woods.
Also amongst the lineup were those highly-anticipated closed-toe DZY pairs, revealed in 2020 by Kanye "Ye" West and Derrick Rose when the duo first announced their team-up.
Release date? "Coming soon," per the two in 2020. And three years later, the shoes have yet to release. At this point, have to imagine that we can replace that with "never."
Rose reminded us of his long-awaited (apparent) YZY basketball shoe in 2022, flexing a pair of sample YEEZY x D Rose sneakers during an NBA game. Still, no word on that drop date, naturally.
With the YEEZY x adidas partnership now over as of last year, it's highly unlikely that the YEEZY x D Rose collab truly will ever see the light of day beyond these teases over the years, especially given the dissolution of Ye and adidas' longstanding business relationship following Ye's very public meltdown in late 2022.
Also, it's worth pointing out that Shukman's photo dump caption, "YZY D Rose 2020," was accompanied by a dying rose emoji.
