Kanye West Debuts Fashion Line, Pisses Off City of Paris

October 03, 2011



After Kanye debuted his first women's fashion line this weekend, it seems like the entire fashion scene feels confused. Paris is the most tradition-obsessed of the fashion weeks, the original and continuing home of couture and the center of an industry that has the entire country's worshipful admiration. And, to them, with no warning or preparation, West just jumped on stage spontaneously and grabbed the gold. Cathy Horyn, writer and legendary tough-ass for The New York Times, tweeted:

Robin Givhan, of The Daily Beast, said:


A nervous new designer, sweaty in his white T-shirt and looking as skittish as a rabbit, debuted his spring 2012 women’s ready-to-wear collection Saturday night at the Lycee Henri IV during Paris Fashion Week. As often happens, this was not an auspicious debut. The collection lacked focus. The silhouettes were unflattering. And the whole project looked to be that of a beginner over-reaching. In short, it was dreadful.

Britain's Daily Telegraph's Lisa Armstrong told Kanye to stick to his day job and Tweeted that it was not good:

She continued:

If this is the way fashion's going then anyone with any real talent should seriously consider a career in Tesco instead. Because that's a job with dignity. Unlike ghost-designing for a rapper who has the presumption to show "his" very first collection in Paris during prêt-à-porter - supposedly the summit for true creativity in fashion. It was the equivalent of Karl Lagerfeld launching a hip-hop career: i.e. absurd.

Julie Ragolia, former FADER style maven, thought it was a jump-the-shark moment:

Susie Bubble was kinder, but still complained of a bad fit:

Kanye West Debuts Fashion Line, Pisses Off City of Paris