Fashion Influencence : Kanye West's Fashion Influence

Kanye West, born June 8, 1977, is a world renown rapper, songwriter, record producer, fashion designer, and entrepreneur. among the most acclaimed musicians of the 21st century, and is one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 32 million albums and 100 million digital downloads worldwide. He has won a total of 21 Grammy Awards, making him one of the most awarded artists of all time. (Kyles, 2013)

When it comes to running a business, your hustle and work ethic are your bread and butter. Sure, you may have a product that is out of this world, but if your business model is shaky, it could spell trouble for your brand. There is something to be said for Kanye’s consistency in his message and branding. Likeable or not, the rapper believes in his goals, which is crucial to the equation.

For my assessment of Kanye West's personality, I am going to use the personality theory that Paul Costa and Robert McCrae invented. Costa and McCrae invented O.C.E.A.N or the Big Five Personality Traits. The theory is that our personality traits fit within five main categories. All of our personality traits either fall under the category of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, or neuroticism. Openness relates to things such as whether a person is close minded or openminded, the degree to which one is thoughtful and rational when looking at new ideas. Conscientiousness relates to how attentive someone is, they could be very attentive and pay attention to things like detail or could be inattentive and be more careless. Extraversion is about how energetic you are around other people, if you are highly extroverted then you are talkative and enjoy the company of other people. Someone who is less extroverted would enjoy the

By using the bear alone Mr. West turned Ralph Lauren onto the masses of rappers and fans (Kanye West: The Evolution of an Icon’s Clothes). As stated by West, he is “the most influential person in fashion in the last ten years”. That statement very well may be true. West is always in the public eye showing off his new outfits. These outfits are then turned over to the masses where people take inspiration from them. Many people like to mimic and dress after their favorite celebrity but it seems West has started an empire of clothing, striking deals with A.P.C., Nike, and Adidas seemingly creating some type of “sub-genre” to clothing called “streetwear”. West has been inspiring and influencing the way rappers and the regular population dress since the days he wore a bear on his shirt. Newer staples of West’s fashion are tighter fitting clothes, leather, and suits. These types of materials and clothing are undoubtedly a new trend in the hip-hop community and industry all courtesy to Kanye Omari West (C.M., Emmanuel).

Kanye West also known as "Yeezy" is American rapper, fashion disaster, and also music producer. People may say that Mr. West is our youth of today voice. He has made a tremendous mark in the music and fashion industry. As we all know Mr. West is known for having his moments. It is safe to say that he has the best and top “omg” Moments, such as interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMA’s. Kanye in the begging when he first came on the hip hop scene was this calm, joyful, his music in my eyes was the most different music out at the time, just because he wasn’t rapping about what everyone else was. Kanye was one of those joyful guys, everybody wanted him on his record or produce it. Then a tragic event occurred where his mom died. After then you see

Throughout history, the biggest reforms in government, philosophy, and behavior have been made by freethinking and outspoken people. People such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela changed the world with their actions and words. While others, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney implement their talents to business to change the world. All are spoken highly of and are highly regarded. One name that is wrongly ostracized from this list is Kanye West. Kanye West is an intelligent person whose actions and outbursts, despite the media’s attempts to make them look incoherent and uncivilized, actually come from a place of goodwill and promote a platform of freethinking.

Kanye West likely seeks reinforcement and loves attention, negative or positive from individuals he does not know, or is not familiar with because of his constant need for attention. He acts the way he does due to his thought process and erratic personality/ personality disorders.

Somehow the artist convinced Dash to sign him: “With reluctance Damon Dash signed West to Roc-A-Fella in 2002…” (“Kayne”). That was his big break. Kanye West was not given everything he has today. To get to the place where he is today, he had to fight like a warrior. He fought until he got signed to Roc-A-Fella, but soon after he got signed, he got into a serious accident that caused his jaw to be wired shut. Thankfully that didn’t stop him. He wrote an amazing song “Through the Wire,” and later got it produced. As stated before, Kanye West went through especially hard obstacles. He got rejected many times from various producers. He even got his jaw to be wired shut, but that didn’t stop him from fighting for his dream. He achieved his dream of becoming a serious rapper, and on top of that, he created a successful fashion line, and became a record producer.

Have you ever seen someone wearing a very rare pair of shoes that you have never seen before? Have you ever wondered how they got these shoes and how much they cost? Believe it or not Nike’s Air Jordan line of shoes has been at the forefront of a decade-long sneaker craze, which has grown so much it has become its own stock market. Jordan’s have been popular for many years and it is shown throughout pop culture, the increase in price and demand, the resale market that has skyrocketed in the last five years, and the history behind the shoe that made them so popular. Jordan’s are very well advertised through several popular outlets.

Kanye West and his brand “Yeezy” are one of the biggest names in the sneaker industry. In fact, Kanye West has a song referring to how he has “Jumped over the Jumpman”, Jumpman of course referring to the brand Air Jordan, but is it true? Is Kanye West and Adidas brand Yeezy more popular today than Michael Jordan’s signature shoe line? The Jumpman is one of the most iconic brand logos on the market, but in the past few years Yeezy has become a major competitor; as well as Adidas in general. When you hear Nike is grossing approximately 86.2 billion in 2015 compared to Adidas 17.1 billion, you may think that there is no way Adidas could stand up to the all-mighty Nike, but what if it is just the beginning? Complex Magazine asks this question in

“Yo Taylor, I’m really happy for you…I’ll let you finish. But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!” (West). Most people if they don’t know anything about Kanye West, they know this quote. When anybody hears his name everybody always has an opinion. Some people love him, while a lot of other people hate him, each for a variety of reasons. Though most people only see the arrogant and egotistic side of Kanye, the more important side that people don’t always see is the hardworking musician. In order to fully understand Kanye’s motives and to fully appreciate him, people have to know how he got to the point he is now today.

It all started my freshman year in high school when I noticed my friends Jordan’s that he had waited hours outside of a shoe store for. At the time they were some of the coolest shoes I had ever seen, I wanted a pair like that. I took a deeper look into retro Jordan’s and found out that most were really hard to get. You couldn’t just go to your nearest shoe store and just pick up the pair you wanted. You would have to drops hundreds of dollars on a pair that others camped out for or woke up hours early to get on the nike.com release of the shoe.

Throughout history, the biggest reforms in government, philosophy, and behavior have been made by freethinking and outspoken people. People such as Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela changed the world with their actions and words. While others, including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney implement their talents to business to change the world. All are spoken highly of and are highly regarded. One name that is wrongly not considered for this list is Kanye West. Kanye West is an intelligent person whose actions and outbursts, despite the media’s attempts to make them look incoherent and uncivilized, actually come from a place of goodwill and promote a platform of free thinking.

From being known to creating compose hip-hop music, a fashion icon and establishing a foundation with his mother to being seen as the most hated celebrity in the entertainment industry. Kanye West took it upon himself to defend his opinion when it came to the winner of the Best Female Video on the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. By taking the stage and grabbing the microphone from the country music star Taylor Swift and basically stating that she did not deserve the title. The event left the audience and TV land very stocked. What some may not realize is that Kanye West displayed multiple stereotypes that society may think African Americans possess. The stereotypes, which were displayed, were drunkenness, outspokenness and the fact that a

Although celebrity culture is typically associated with actors and actress, consumers may also rely on the trustfulness and credibility of politicians and first wives when deciding fashion trends. In the 1960s, fashion icon Jackie Kennedy took over the fashion industry (Joel 1). She appealed to many stay-at-home women because she was commonly known to have a “sophisticated simplicity” (Joel 1) approach to fashion. Her successor, First Lady Michelle Obama has instantly become a fashion icon herself as well. She is commonly seen wearing American designers therefore pushing “the American fashion industry into the international spotlight” (Givhan 1). People are often so draw to her style because it gives a glance into her personal life. As Givhan states, “Obama’s clothes have connected with the public in contemporary terms, in the language of Hollywood’s glamour, Seventh Avenue’s bold entrepreneurship and the democracy of the mass market” (Givhan 1). In March 2009, Michelle Obama appeared on the cover of US Vogue which showcased her “dress, style, and poise” (Gibson 40). Brett Schenck, president of Hart Schaffner Marx states, “It’s usually the frenzy behind the first lady” (Jones), but in the some instances, President Obama has also made an impact on the fashion industry. In the summer of 2009, designer Donatella Versace created a runway show that was designed and dedicated to him. The clothes she created where inspired by President Obama because it showcased “a relaxed man