Kanye West—the rapper, fashion designer, and 2020 presidential hopeful—debuted his second collection in collaboration with Adidas today (Sept. 16). Yeezy season 2, as it’s been dubbed, was a last-minute addition to the calendar, upsetting other designers who suddenly learned they would be competing for attention with one of the biggest names in entertainment. Fans, however, were excited at the news, and in the lead-up to the show, the anticipation mounted.
But while West’s music almost always draws praise, his design skills have been met with reviews that would be generously described as mixed. That was the case again today, particularly on Twitter, where onlookers flocked to talk about West’s military-inspired, aggressively drab collection using the hashtag #YeezySeason2.
The commentariat raised a few different issues with the clothing, but one of the most prominent lines of thinking compared it to costume designs from Star Wars.
Others were a bit harsher in their assessment, likening it to the tattered clothing seen on zombies in the series The Walking Dead—and mocking the very high pricing that will undoubtedly accompany the disheveled, distressed looks.
Others, however, noted that the collection didn’t exactly bring to mind luxury.
More than a few references appeared to Zoolander’s Mugatu, the designer played by Will Ferrell who created the vagrant-inspired line, Derelicte.
A few noted the similarity to West’s first collection for Adidas, which featured the same bodysuits, off-kilter proportions, and dirty-neutral color palette.
The response wasn’t entirely negative, however. Some people loved the show.
Others were measured in their response, acknowledging that West seemed to aim for a narrower audience with his clothing than he does with his music, and that he clearly put a measure of thought and work into his collection.
Finally, there were those who thought the responses on Twitter today will have no bearing on how people react when the collection hits store racks. After all, this is Kanye West we are talking about. People also mocked the sneakers he designed with Adidas, and yet they’ve been in high demand since their release.