Yeezy shoes in limbo after Adidas split with Ye

The fate of $1.3 billion (U.S.) worth of unsold Yeezy stock is weighing on the German sportswear company as it tries to engineer a turnaround from the loss of the lucrative sneaker line

FRANKFURT, GERMANY It’s been nearly seven months since Adidas split with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, and boxes of his popular Yeezy shoes are still piled up in warehouses.

The fate of $1.3 billion (U.S.) worth of unsold Yeezy stock is weighing on the German sportswear company as it tries to engineer a turnaround from the loss of the lucrative sneaker line and the continued fallout over its former ties to Ye.

Adidas is “getting closer and closer to making a decision” on what to do with the sneakers and the “options are narrowing,” new CEO Bjorn Gulden said in a conference call Friday after reporting $441 million in lost sales at the start of the year. But with “so many interested parties” involved in the discussions, no decision had yet been reached, he said.

Adidas is stuck with stacks of its flagship Yeezy brand shoes after ending its relationship with Ye in October over his antisemitic and other offensive comments.

Gulden, who became CEO in January after the Ye split, declined to say if destroying the shoes had been ruled out but that the company was “

He has previously said other options have drawbacks: selling the sneakers would mean paying royalties to Ye, restitching them to remove the brand identification would be dishonest, and giving them away to people in need could lead to resale because of their high market value. sGulden would not say how many pairs of Yeezy shoes that Adidas is stuck holding “because then the consumer would know how many we have and that could have an impact on demand.”

Gulden said the results for the Adidas were “a little better than we had expected” as the company seeks to restart growth and move beyond the breakup with Ye.

The company faces other problems tied to the rapper. Investors sued Adidas a week ago in the U.S., alleging the company knew about Ye’s offensive remarks and harmful behaviour years before the split and failed to take precautionary measures to limit financial losses.

The lawsuit — representing people who bought Adidas securities between May 3, 2018, and Feb, 21, 2023 — pointed to 2018 comments where Ye suggested slavery was a “choice” and reports of Ye making antisemitic statements in front of Adidas staff.