Kanye West is a rapper, producer, and fashion designer who grew up in Chicago, IL. He became well known as a musical artist but has now grown his brand into the fashion industry, starting with his creation of “Yeezy” shoes. What started as a childhood dream has now developed into a successful brand, ranging from shoes and loungewear to designer pieces.
Kanye has built his career around his creative genius and outlandish personality. Starting with producing music and then releasing albums of his own, Kanye became a household name. He started to gain major successes in the 90s and early 2000s through his musical endeavors; however, he knew he wanted to do more. His contract with Adidas in 2013 made this dream a reality. His shoe line, Yeezy Season 1, launched two years later, in 2015, featuring his Lamborghini inspired shoes and a select number of clothes. From this first launch, the Yeezy brand has skyrocketed, propelling West into a centimillionaire with over 1,000 styles of sneakers.
Kanye describes his creative process by pulling inspiration from models of the past, particularly using Old Testament symbols and ideas. He says that “the Bible is better than Pinterest”, using scripture that speaks of not wearing “a garment of cloth made with different material” as a guide for his apparel. This inspiration has led to his monochrome, leisure- style that he has made into designer fashion. He goes on to explain how his life experiences often inspire color patterns and shoe styles. As the brand has grown, Kanye has kept his role as head designer, still owning 100% of the brand. He bult his company around his personality, following his ideas and not the big shot businessmen who work for him. He claims that he is not a “numbers guy”, focusing more on the creative side of his brand rather than its fiscal success.
Although his actions can cause negative media attention, it is his confidence in himself that has helped propel his brand. He knows what image he wants to present to the world and isn’t afraid to step on a few toes to achieve his goals.
Sternberg’s six distinct personality psychometrics are known to be correlated with being creative. Kanye is an example of an artist who encompasses most of, if not all, of these traits. Kanye’s “lack of conventionality” has given him the freedom to create pieces that are works of art, not necessarily pieces that will sell. He creates shoes and clothes based on his own style guidelines, not by what is deemed trendy in the media. The “integration” of scripture into fashion is another aspect of the Yeezy brand that makes it unique and also connects with Sternberg’s psychometrics. Pulling together ideas from unconventional areas of inspiration drives his creative process. Kanye’s imagination, drive for accomplishment, and perspicacity are aspects of his personality that have allowed the Yeezy brand to become such a success. His creations have changed designer fashion and he is still looking for more. With new lines of Yeezy dropping each season, Kanye West’s creativity shows no signs of slowing down.
Resources:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kanye-West
https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/kanye-west-yeezy-creative-process-forbes/
I like your take on Kanye, I think he is very creative and a great topic for these blog posts. Not sure if it was an issue on my end, but i was unable to see any of the pictures within the post and that was disappointing because I feel that the visuals probably added a lot to the message.
ReplyDeleteBack to Kanye's creativity, I think he covers a wide range of creative characteristics that we have discussed in class. I really enjoyed the fact that you brought up Sternburg's personality psychometrics too, he really does encompass pretty much all six of them in my opinion.