Kanye West‘s Yeezy Brand is doing remarkably well in terms of sales numbers. In fact, there’s a solid chance that he’ll outsell the Jordan brand in the near future.
West first launched the sneaker line with Nike in 2009, then partnered with Adidas in 2013 after he wanted more ownership. This year he’s expected to do over $1.5 billion in sales with Adidas, according to Forbes, while the Jordan brand, which has been around for 34 years, pulls in about $3 billion annually.
So considering Yeezys have been out for just six years under Adidas and already has made over $1 billion, West could be standing at the top of the sales hill much sooner than later.
Reportedly, $150 million of the rapper’s personal income has come from Yeezy sales in the past six months, and Forbes has him at the No. 3 position on its Celebrity 100 list of highest-paid entertainers.
One could also say that Yeezys have rivaled the Jordan brand in terms of cachet, especially within hip-hop circles. Most of West’s recent sales have come from his Yeezy Boost 350s, and he explained what inspires his designs.
“I am a product guy at my core,” he told Forbes in a recent interview. “To make products that make people feel an immense amount of joy and solve issues and problems in their life, that’s the problem-solving that I love to do.”
The high sales numbers are despite the fact that West angered many by supporting Donald Trump in the past and for saying slavery was a choice for black people.
The 42-year-old also has talked openly about having bipolar disorder in the past, which he suggested helps his creative process.
“‘Crazy’ is a word that’s not gonna be used loosely in the future,” West said in the Forbes interview. “Understand that this is actually a condition that people can end up in, be born into, driven into and go in and out. And there’s a lot of people that have been called that ‘C’ word that have ended up on this [Forbes magazine’s] cover.”
