Adidas eases losses through Kanye West escape route

Adidas was able to keep its losses under previously expected levels. Although the sportswear brand broke ties with controversial rapper Kanye West, its Yeezy shoes are still selling like hot cakes.

8 million shoes

Rather than an operating loss of 700 million euros, Adidas may now lose ‘only’ 450 million as its (in)famous Yeezy trainers are saving the day for the last time. In any case, the decision to continue selling them after all turns out to be a financial hit.

The controversial rapper’s shoes are still a huge hit, even though Adidas stopped the collaboration last autumn after Kanye West repeatedly uttered racist and anti-Semitic comments. Another four million pairs of trainers are said to have raked in 508 million euros, the Financial Times reports. While Adidas promised to donate part of the proceeds to charity, it does not (yet) say how much and to whom.

In the second quarter of 2023, sales did drop by 5 % to 5.34 billion euros due to adverse currency effects: excluding those, sales remained stable. Adidas also managed to squeeze out a modest operating profit of 176 million euros. Over the full year, the German company now expects sales to fall between 3 and 6 %, as opposed to the 7 to 9 % drop it originally expected.