Warm-Up

The Nike Air Yeezy, named for Kanye West’s “Yeezy” nickname, was developed from 2007 to 2009 by rapper Kanye West and Nike Creative Director Mark Smith. Despite later qualms with Nike, Kanye has spoken very highly of Smith as both a collaborator and designer, and Smith has said the same of Kanye, stating that he is “a truly creative talent” and a “natural designer.”After the long sampling process, three colorways of the Nike Air Yeezy were chosen for public release; a “Zen Grey” colorway that released on April 1, 2009 and was the colorway that was created after almost equal input from Smith and West, a “Black/Pink” colorway sometimes referred to as the “Blink” colorway, which was more the brainchild of Mark Smith and released on May 2, 2009, and finally a “Net” colorway that reflected more of Kanye West’s design tastes and released on June 1, 2009. Each colorway had a suggested retail price of $215 and sold out almost immediately.