For nearly two decades, celebrity has been a softening factor in his relationship with the new industry he seeks to loot.invited politician who seeks to bask in the warmth of his spotlight. It has sent business leaders down a dangerous path. It has inspired many cultural analyses. I just created this column. Celebrity is the attribute that holds the fashion industry hostage to West’s whims.
Fashion is the prelude to this latest conflagration that has banished West from social media and sparked anti-Semitic comments preaching a two-hour self-aggrandizing sermon to Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Recently in Paris. At the Yeezy fashion show, he wore a T-shirt that read “White Lives Matter.” Southern Poverty Law Center described it as “a racist response to the civil rights movement Black Lives Matter.” West told Carlson that the shirt was simply his way of stating the obvious.
These words cannot be easily separated from the racially troubled context in which it grew up, the extent to which it was weaponized by white supremacists, and ultimately the distrust of Messenger. I never said what. He speaks in abbreviated phrases and provocative suggestions. They are laced with anger and suspicion and paranoia.
The fashion industry, with which West has had a long and abusive relationship, seems particularly likely to infuriate West. is a person. It’s a business he set out to conquer with irrepressible love and intention. He wasn’t sneaky about wooing fashion. He came there with greedy desires, and took his most influential gatekeeper seriously.
His first design attempt, the Spring 2012 collection presented in Paris, was a disastrous affair. Its aesthetic derives from labels like Balenciaga and Rick Owens, who are still the dominant sources of inspiration. It was West’s attitude. he was nervous he was mute. He uttered the following words: “I am very scared.” That may have been the last time his thoughts were clear.
Fashion was the first industry he entered using celebrity. Fashion made fun of him. It tolerated him. It made a deal with him. Adidas Easy Sneaker hit by lightning. Gap made a deal with West and went through all the trouble to get a puffy parka with no closure.
Fashion made peace with him. But it refused to elevate him in a way he’s often requested.A flare-up that spanned days prompted Adidas to release a “review” of their relationship. , he appears to be showing porn on his cell phone during a business meeting where Adidas executives are trying to diplomatically push the image away. Gap was kissed by a grumpy West. Fashion has the power to create identity, status and belonging, and treated West less like family and more like a cold deal. It wasn’t as a visionary designer who earned the respect of critics, but as a celebrity who could catch the eye of the culture.
West’s celebrity status has largely continued to be seen and heard by us because we are acutely aware that so many others are also paying attention. Every time he says something, we recoil, as if he had never done anything terrible before, as if we were in a new shock. We believe that fame is a deterrent to bad behavior and that those who know they are being watched aim to do their best rather than use all that attention as an enticement to action. We will respond as if we believe that
When West made noise about his candidacy president, the political system and the average voter took notice and thought about what that would mean for democracy. It wasn’t because he was surrounded by lawmakers and Gadfly, or because the establishment launched Kanye’s draft campaign. It’s because he’s famous and people were swayed by it. It’s hard to forget that Donald Trump was a celebrity even before he became president. No, we could never forget it.
But for the most part, they haven’t been able to shake the deep-seated belief that fame equates to wisdom, integrity, and achievement. We are dumbfounded when celebrities do things that are abusive, vindictive, or petty. What should I do? What did we think they were? based on what?
We expect more from celebrities—for absolutely no good reason. And because we’re convinced that celebrities are gold, their failures are a very big percentage.
West may or may not be struggling with mental health. He has discussed his bipolar disorder and hopes he will get any medical help he may need. West might believe that democracy, racial justice and the fate of black America rest on his famous shoulders, but that’s not the case. was not the savior of the fashion industry.
in him exterior With Carlson, West shrugged off his critics. “I play for one audience. It’s God,” he said. Then perhaps that should be the signal to leave the arena and let him go.