Kanye West says his designs are ‘inspired by the homeless’

Kanye West has shared the inspiration behind his fashion label, Yeezy, prompting backlash from some of his fans.

The rapper, now formally known as Ye, posted a black image with white text to his Instagram page on Friday. The post read: “Look to the children / Look to the homeless as the biggest inspiration for all design.”

West, 45, first launched his brand Yeezy in 2015 when the “Stronger” rapper partnered with Adidas to release his own line of Adidas Yeezy Sneakers. Since then, Yeezy has debuted a number of fashion collections at New York Fashion Week, and collaborated with brands like Balenciaga and GAP.

Earlier this year, West released his highly anticipated GAP collaboration with creative director of Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia. The collection consisted of just eight items, including the reimagined classic GAP logo sweatshirt in smoky grey as well as unisex sweatpants and T-shirts. The collaboration between the two artists was described as “timeless silhouettes translated through the lens of Ye and Demna’s shared vision of utilitarian design”.

In response to West’s latest Instagram, fans were divided, with some applauding the rapper’s visions, while others suggested that he could do more to help those experiencing homelessness.

“Instead of using the homeless as inspiration for design, you should be helping them get out of homelessness,” one person wrote, while another said: “Sounds like exploitation of the powerless.”

“The irony is palpable,” someone else wrote.

West’s recent Instagram post comes after he deleted a post last week which “mourned” the fake death of Pete Davidson following his split from Kim Kardashian. The rapper and ex-husband to Kardashian posted a fake New York Times front page to his Instagram account, the headline of which read: “Skete Davidson dead at age 28.”

In the smaller text below the headline, it read: “Kid Cudi meant to play funeral but fearful of bottle throwers.”

West famously referred to Davidson as Skete earlier this year during his social media tirade against the comedian earlier this year. Following the post, Kardashian was reportedly “furious” with West for mocking her recent breakup and had “tried to get Kanye to take it down” while “vigorously” defending Davidson.

Kardashian and Davidson announced their split on 5 August after nine months of dating. The reality star was declared legally single in March this year after filing for divorce from West in February 2021. Kardashian and West continue to co-parent their four children – North, nine, Saint, six, Chicago, four, and Psalm, two.