Kanye West’s fashion debut

I have to start by admitting that I began as a “hater” when I heard Kanye West was producing a fashion line. Kanye’s past has left me with a bit of a “stinky” impression of the young man. His Taylor Swift moment will most likely never be forgiven and he’s had a few more PR disasters in his past that have not left the greatest of impressions. Frankly, Kanye has become a man that people love to hate.

That being said, Kanye continues to shine in the eyes of many mainly because he is a talented musician. He has an inspiring tale of rising up from zero to hero and we know how the world loves hearing that sort of fairytale happy ending. Kanye appears to have everything a young man could ever desire. He has fame, he has fortune and he has a world that is 100% open to him.  Recently, he announced he would be testing that “world’s an open book” theory by producing a fashion line. Now you can only imagine the response from such an announcement. If there were ever “haters” wanting to “hate” this was their best chance to do so. The horrible words that were said on twitter, on blogs, in print…you name it, they said it and without even one image available for critics to preview Kanye West’s new line. 

The show took place on Saturday in Paris during one of the most prestigious fashion weeks in the world. Just over one hundred people were selected to attend the event and it was a guestlist that would make any fashion house proud. Anna Wintour, the Olsen twins, Ciara, Lindsay Lohan,  Alexander Wang and Carine Roitfeld were just a handful of celebs spotted in the front row as the show started. Up until seconds before the music started the criticisms continued and the world speculated on the monstrosities that would make their way down the catwalk.  Only the cynical world didn’t win the battle on this particular occasion. Kanye West, with the help of London’s very own Louise Goldin, debuted a collection that is worthy of applause. For a first attempt, Mr. West has surprised us all. I actually really liked this show. Of course there were winning and losing pieces (mainly because of the fittings) but the collection as a whole was a wonderful result. Louise Goldin and Kanye West deserve praise for their efforts.

Now I took to twitter last night to announce my support for Kanye West’s first collection and I was ripped apart. I had been tired of reading the jokes all day about Kanye West and his horrible collection. All of the comments boiled down to people being angry that Kanye West was showing a collection only because he had the money to do so! Now this upsets me greatly. 

First of all, Kanye West didn’t have to put any time or effort into putting together a fashion label. He has plenty of money and certainly doesn’t need any more. He could have just continued sitting front row at other shows and supporting the economy by purchasing big named brands. But he hasn’t chosen to do that! Kanye West has decided to face the toughest industry in the world where criticism isn’t always constructive and in fact usually is just downright cruel and unnecessary! 

To all the naysayers that claim it’s unfair that there are designers out there struggling while Kanye is being put into the spotlight, I say to you that I’m sorry I don’t think you have a valid argument at all. Why put down a creator just because he has the money to create? If you have this attitude in life I’m afraid your collection has stayed off the catwalks not because you are any less talented but because you haven’t the faintest idea how the world works! You cannot continue to fault others for their advantages in life. It makes you appear very bitter and none of us want to work with or support bitter people now do we? Instead of working hard to put successful people down, put all that negative energy into PRing yourself! I, for one, am always keen to work with designers who aren’t comparing themselves to others in the marketplace but rather love striking out and making a name for themselves based on being 100% original and new!

{images courtesy of style.com}

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