Kanye West is ready to prove his critics wrong once again. If there is anything the Atlanta-born rapper does well, it’s ignoring the naysayers. In 2011 West debuted his first women’s collection in Paris to mixed reviews. “Many reviewers panned the collection, deeming it sloppily overwrought and marred by unfortunately placed zippers, but they were kinder about the second, which showed more focus and discipline,” recalled W magazine in a July interview with West. Despite a warmer reception from the critics on his sophomore effort, West pulled away from the limelight and dug deeper.
“The first collection was way better than the second,” says West in W magazine. “It was more artful. It was 30 collections in one. It just takes time for me to slow down and think like a normal person.” Established designers, West notes, are already “in a position to go crazy. I tried to come out of the gate going crazy. And it didn’t work. So now I have to somehow put out something that says, ‘I look sensible!’”
Sensibility may come with a “new men’s capsule collection for A.P.C. It includes jeans, T-shirts, and hoodies that combine West’s fashion-forward silhouettes with the cool minimalism for which the French brand is known.”
The collection is set to debut in less than one week. A.P.C’s head designer Jean Touitou shared an Instagram photo of a pair of jeans tags that read “A.P.C Kanye” The photo caption read: “A.P.C. KANYE CAPSULE COLLECTION, JULY 14. #apc #kanyewest”
Virgil Abloh, a friend of the “I Am God” rapper tweeted,
“He’s a designer. We are all designers first. Creative black kids from Chicago running around the world getting ideas out. Don’t let non-believers limit you. Why? Cause this ad wouldn’t be in French Vogue this month otherwise.”
Another friend, Travi$ Scott offered additional support via Instagram sharing the same photo:
“WHEN I FIRST LANDED IN PARIS. YE BROUGHT ME TO APC HEADQUARTERS TO MEET JEAN SEEING THIS COLLAB COME OUT AFTER MANY DESIGNERS TELLIN YE HE COULDNT DO SHIT IS SO FRESH”
Finally Kanye West tweeted his own confirmation: “Thank you Jean Touitou for letting me create with you,” he said in reference to A.P.C.’s founder.
Looking forward to seeing what the hardest-working rapper in the biz has in store.
