Adidas said on Friday that it will start selling a portion of its enormous inventory of Kanye West's Yeezy goods in May and give the revenues to charities, including one founded by George Floyd's brother.
Since Adidas' association with the contentious rapper ended in October 2022, the clothing has remained in limbo.
In its first statement at the end of May, the clothing firm made no mention of the number of stocks it would issue to the market.
Only “a range of existing designs will be available exclusively” through the adidas.com/yeezy website and adidas CONFIRMED app was specified.
It said that “further releases of existing inventory are currently being considered, but timing is not yet determined.”
Bjorn Gulden, CEO of Adidas, said that the decision was taken because “selling and giving was the preferred choice among all organizations and stakeholders we talked to.
“We think this is the best solution because it respects the designed and made shoes, works for our people, solves the inventory issue, and will benefit our communities,” the company says.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, among other organizations, will benefit from the earnings, according to the organization.
George Floyd, a Black American, was killed by a white police officer who had pinned him on the ground by squatting on his neck for about ten minutes. Philonise Floyd is George's brother.
Adidas cut ties with West, who is now officially known as Ye, after he made a slew of anti-Semitic comments.
As a consequence, the company stopped making the wildly popular Yeezy brand that it had created with West.
The company estimated that not selling the West-related clothing and footwear might result in a sales loss of $1.3 billion when it released its 2022 full-year results earlier in May.
