Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to

drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY

brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models

in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021?

Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it

likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has

popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or

scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear

choices.

Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021? Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear choices.

In the time between 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye continued to shift sounds while returning to his rap roots. His Hawaii studio sessions would spawn seven-minute posse cuts characterized by aggressive bars, golden era production, and progressive layering.

Somehow that modernized mix of hybrid heritage seeped into his subconscious when it came to footwear. Appearing out and about in the Nike Zoom Alphalution from the Beaverton brand’s basketball Refresh program, the Alphalution similarly melted ‘80s ethos atop new-age tech.

Built to ball, caged Zoom Air appeared in the heel, famously propelling the Nike Zoom LeBron II, Steve Nash-endorsed Nike Zoom Drive, and signature styles designed for the likes of Michael Vick and Tiger Woods. For its namesake, the Alphalution was a hybrid between the Alpha Force and Revolution from the late 1980s. From a colorway standpoint, this pair directly riffed off the carbon fiber styling seen on the Nike Zoom Flight 95.

This one-and-done wear from West was about as close as Kanye ever really got to casually wearing a performance basketball shoe. Sure, Kanye was all about hoops models from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it came to Air Forces, Barkleys, and Jordans. On occasion, he’d rock low cut Kobes when seen in gym clothes, but it was this modernized mall shoe that defied convention for Kanye, only never to be seen on his feet again.

Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021? Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear choices.

Kanye’s sneaker closet in 2018, image via Kanye West

10. Nike Zoom Alphalution

In the time between 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye continued to shift sounds while returning to his rap roots. His Hawaii studio sessions would spawn seven-minute posse cuts characterized by aggressive bars, golden era production, and progressive layering.

Somehow that modernized mix of hybrid heritage seeped into his subconscious when it came to footwear. Appearing out and about in the Nike Zoom Alphalution from the Beaverton brand’s basketball Refresh program, the Alphalution similarly melted ‘80s ethos atop new-age tech.

Built to ball, caged Zoom Air appeared in the heel, famously propelling the Nike Zoom LeBron II, Steve Nash-endorsed Nike Zoom Drive, and signature styles designed for the likes of Michael Vick and Tiger Woods. For its namesake, the Alphalution was a hybrid between the Alpha Force and Revolution from the late 1980s. From a colorway standpoint, this pair directly riffed off the carbon fiber styling seen on the Nike Zoom Flight 95.

This one-and-done wear from West was about as close as Kanye ever really got to casually wearing a performance basketball shoe. Sure, Kanye was all about hoops models from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it came to Air Forces, Barkleys, and Jordans. On occasion, he’d rock low cut Kobes when seen in gym clothes, but it was this modernized mall shoe that defied convention for Kanye, only never to be seen on his feet again.

Before signing design deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and adidas, Vans have seen fanfare from Kanye West despite his Midwest upbringing and backboard overboard flip sports background.

Nevertheless, the Vans Authentic and Sk8-Hi were both go-to models for West for much of the mid to late 2000s. The former found its way into West’s wardrobe as an understated accent piece when going dressy casual, while the latter was worn with laces low and tongues high as a way to amplify increasingly more tapered jeans.

By 2016, Kanye West was removed from Nike, no longer a footwear free agent and all in at adidas. Or so it seemed.

Just weeks after releasing “FACTS” – a victory lap diss track aimed at Nike after his first year of retail releases with adidas – Kanye popped up in the California ‘competitor’ in a photo with Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. The two would release the song “No More Parties in LA” with Kanye’s line “Some days I’m in my Yeezys / Some days I’m in my Vans,” igniting headlines that Kanye could once again jump ship.

While those rumors were far-fetched, what remained random was the Vans model he wore: the Full Cab. Though Kanye was occasionally seen in custom Old Skools – the brand’s breadwinner in the mid-2010s – West wore the 1989 Steve Caballero signature in its original form. Famously, Caballero customized his Full Cabs into mid-tops with scissors and duct tape, laying the foundation for the much more popular Half Cab.

In 2021, Kanye is still active at adidas and rarely, if ever seen in Vans since the Full Cab sighting and line. Oddly enough, the semi non-competitor nature of Vans has allowed brand ambassadors and employees at an array of corporations the ability to get away with wearing their models both in the tunnel and at events.

It’s the influential rule-bending for Ye.

By the early 2010s, Kanye West had worn every OG Air Jordan model 1 through 8 with either regularity or variety throughout his career. In the days between the Nike Air Yeezy 1 arrival and Nike Air Yeezy 2 launch, Air Jordan 1s and Air Jordan 6s would rise to the top of his rotation with recent releases of both models – and the occasional ‘01 AJ1 – seeing traction while on stage or the runway.

In October of 2011, Kanye appeared at Bar Pitti in NYC for lunch, not in the Air Jordan 1 or Air Jordan 6, but rather the sum of their numbers: the Air Jordan 7. Not that weird, right? On the surface, no, but if you dig deeper, it’s one of the more random wears ever by Kanye.

As Day 1 fans know, the “Playoffs” or “Raptor” 7s were the go-to sneaker for Kanye West during his College Dropout days, rocking the second ring sneaker in the music video for “All Falls Down” and on the road when promoting his first album. The 1992 model received the retro treatment fittingly in 2002, often outfitting West in the public eye through 2004 only to be shelved for Bapestas, Vans, and designer sneakers while rolling out Late Registration.

Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021? Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear choices.

Kanye’s sneaker closet in 2018, image via Kanye West

In the time between 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye continued to shift sounds while returning to his rap roots. His Hawaii studio sessions would spawn seven-minute posse cuts characterized by aggressive bars, golden era production, and progressive layering.

Somehow that modernized mix of hybrid heritage seeped into his subconscious when it came to footwear. Appearing out and about in the Nike Zoom Alphalution from the Beaverton brand’s basketball Refresh program, the Alphalution similarly melted ‘80s ethos atop new-age tech.

Built to ball, caged Zoom Air appeared in the heel, famously propelling the Nike Zoom LeBron II, Steve Nash-endorsed Nike Zoom Drive, and signature styles designed for the likes of Michael Vick and Tiger Woods. For its namesake, the Alphalution was a hybrid between the Alpha Force and Revolution from the late 1980s. From a colorway standpoint, this pair directly riffed off the carbon fiber styling seen on the Nike Zoom Flight 95.

This one-and-done wear from West was about as close as Kanye ever really got to casually wearing a performance basketball shoe. Sure, Kanye was all about hoops models from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it came to Air Forces, Barkleys, and Jordans. On occasion, he’d rock low cut Kobes when seen in gym clothes, but it was this modernized mall shoe that defied convention for Kanye, only never to be seen on his feet again.

Before signing design deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and adidas, Vans have seen fanfare from Kanye West despite his Midwest upbringing and backboard overboard flip sports background.

Nevertheless, the Vans Authentic and Sk8-Hi were both go-to models for West for much of the mid to late 2000s. The former found its way into West’s wardrobe as an understated accent piece when going dressy casual, while the latter was worn with laces low and tongues high as a way to amplify increasingly more tapered jeans.

By 2016, Kanye West was removed from Nike, no longer a footwear free agent and all in at adidas. Or so it seemed.

Just weeks after releasing “FACTS” – a victory lap diss track aimed at Nike after his first year of retail releases with adidas – Kanye popped up in the California ‘competitor’ in a photo with Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. The two would release the song “No More Parties in LA” with Kanye’s line “Some days I’m in my Yeezys / Some days I’m in my Vans,” igniting headlines that Kanye could once again jump ship.

Image via Vans

While those rumors were far-fetched, what remained random was the Vans model he wore: the Full Cab. Though Kanye was occasionally seen in custom Old Skools – the brand’s breadwinner in the mid-2010s – West wore the 1989 Steve Caballero signature in its original form. Famously, Caballero customized his Full Cabs into mid-tops with scissors and duct tape, laying the foundation for the much more popular Half Cab.

In 2021, Kanye is still active at adidas and rarely, if ever seen in Vans since the Full Cab sighting and line. Oddly enough, the semi non-competitor nature of Vans has allowed brand ambassadors and employees at an array of corporations the ability to get away with wearing their models both in the tunnel and at events.

It’s the influential rule-bending for Ye.

By the early 2010s, Kanye West had worn every OG Air Jordan model 1 through 8 with either regularity or variety throughout his career. In the days between the Nike Air Yeezy 1 arrival and Nike Air Yeezy 2 launch, Air Jordan 1s and Air Jordan 6s would rise to the top of his rotation with recent releases of both models – and the occasional ‘01 AJ1 – seeing traction while on stage or the runway.

In October of 2011, Kanye appeared at Bar Pitti in NYC for lunch, not in the Air Jordan 1 or Air Jordan 6, but rather the sum of their numbers: the Air Jordan 7. Not that weird, right? On the surface, no, but if you dig deeper, it’s one of the more random wears ever by Kanye.

As Day 1 fans know, the “Playoffs” or “Raptor” 7s were the go-to sneaker for Kanye West during his College Dropout days, rocking the second ring sneaker in the music video for “All Falls Down” and on the road when promoting his first album. The 1992 model received the retro treatment fittingly in 2002, often outfitting West in the public eye through 2004 only to be shelved for Bapestas, Vans, and designer sneakers while rolling out Late Registration.

Image via Flight Club

So, did a man who moved to Los Angeles, interned in Rome, and recorded in Hawaii over the course of almost a decade retain a nine-year-old pair of retros from his first album rollout? More realistically, did he keep the original pair tucked away in his New York apartment, or scoop up a pair from Flight Club in 2011 to wear once to an Italian lunch? Perhaps his protege Big Sean slid him a pair from his personal stash? The world will never know.

For sneakerheads of a certain age, Creative Recreation resonates as a moment in time when lifestyle footwear could sway easily from Karmaloop to Kohl’s. Best known for stacking a forefoot strap on any and every generic build, the brand went lux and left on 2009’s Turino.

To some surprise, Kanye West loved it.

Worn by West with some regularity from 2009 to 2011, the clean cream-colored kicks were a fixture for the multihyphenate, whether at Cannes Festival or on breezy beach vacations. Wearing the shoes with tailored suits or muted menswear, the Turino was a modern middle ground between Vans Authentics, adidas Stan Smiths, and actual dress shoes.

In hindsight, Kanye’s love for the Turino makes more sense than less. Aside from being an understated accessory to dress code-friendly outfits, the Turino tongue packs a similar design ethos to the Maison Margiela Future later favored by West during the Yeezus Tour.

Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021? Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear choices.

Kanye’s sneaker closet in 2018, image via Kanye West

In the time between 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye continued to shift sounds while returning to his rap roots. His Hawaii studio sessions would spawn seven-minute posse cuts characterized by aggressive bars, golden era production, and progressive layering.

Somehow that modernized mix of hybrid heritage seeped into his subconscious when it came to footwear. Appearing out and about in the Nike Zoom Alphalution from the Beaverton brand’s basketball Refresh program, the Alphalution similarly melted ‘80s ethos atop new-age tech.

Built to ball, caged Zoom Air appeared in the heel, famously propelling the Nike Zoom LeBron II, Steve Nash-endorsed Nike Zoom Drive, and signature styles designed for the likes of Michael Vick and Tiger Woods. For its namesake, the Alphalution was a hybrid between the Alpha Force and Revolution from the late 1980s. From a colorway standpoint, this pair directly riffed off the carbon fiber styling seen on the Nike Zoom Flight 95.

This one-and-done wear from West was about as close as Kanye ever really got to casually wearing a performance basketball shoe. Sure, Kanye was all about hoops models from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it came to Air Forces, Barkleys, and Jordans. On occasion, he’d rock low cut Kobes when seen in gym clothes, but it was this modernized mall shoe that defied convention for Kanye, only never to be seen on his feet again.

Before signing design deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and adidas, Vans have seen fanfare from Kanye West despite his Midwest upbringing and backboard overboard flip sports background.

Nevertheless, the Vans Authentic and Sk8-Hi were both go-to models for West for much of the mid to late 2000s. The former found its way into West’s wardrobe as an understated accent piece when going dressy casual, while the latter was worn with laces low and tongues high as a way to amplify increasingly more tapered jeans.

By 2016, Kanye West was removed from Nike, no longer a footwear free agent and all in at adidas. Or so it seemed.

Just weeks after releasing “FACTS” – a victory lap diss track aimed at Nike after his first year of retail releases with adidas – Kanye popped up in the California ‘competitor’ in a photo with Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. The two would release the song “No More Parties in LA” with Kanye’s line “Some days I’m in my Yeezys / Some days I’m in my Vans,” igniting headlines that Kanye could once again jump ship.

Image via Vans

While those rumors were far-fetched, what remained random was the Vans model he wore: the Full Cab. Though Kanye was occasionally seen in custom Old Skools – the brand’s breadwinner in the mid-2010s – West wore the 1989 Steve Caballero signature in its original form. Famously, Caballero customized his Full Cabs into mid-tops with scissors and duct tape, laying the foundation for the much more popular Half Cab.

In 2021, Kanye is still active at adidas and rarely, if ever seen in Vans since the Full Cab sighting and line. Oddly enough, the semi non-competitor nature of Vans has allowed brand ambassadors and employees at an array of corporations the ability to get away with wearing their models both in the tunnel and at events.

It’s the influential rule-bending for Ye.

By the early 2010s, Kanye West had worn every OG Air Jordan model 1 through 8 with either regularity or variety throughout his career. In the days between the Nike Air Yeezy 1 arrival and Nike Air Yeezy 2 launch, Air Jordan 1s and Air Jordan 6s would rise to the top of his rotation with recent releases of both models – and the occasional ‘01 AJ1 – seeing traction while on stage or the runway.

In October of 2011, Kanye appeared at Bar Pitti in NYC for lunch, not in the Air Jordan 1 or Air Jordan 6, but rather the sum of their numbers: the Air Jordan 7. Not that weird, right? On the surface, no, but if you dig deeper, it’s one of the more random wears ever by Kanye.

As Day 1 fans know, the “Playoffs” or “Raptor” 7s were the go-to sneaker for Kanye West during his College Dropout days, rocking the second ring sneaker in the music video for “All Falls Down” and on the road when promoting his first album. The 1992 model received the retro treatment fittingly in 2002, often outfitting West in the public eye through 2004 only to be shelved for Bapestas, Vans, and designer sneakers while rolling out Late Registration.

Image via Flight Club

So, did a man who moved to Los Angeles, interned in Rome, and recorded in Hawaii over the course of almost a decade retain a nine-year-old pair of retros from his first album rollout? More realistically, did he keep the original pair tucked away in his New York apartment, or scoop up a pair from Flight Club in 2011 to wear once to an Italian lunch? Perhaps his protege Big Sean slid him a pair from his personal stash? The world will never know.

For sneakerheads of a certain age, Creative Recreation resonates as a moment in time when lifestyle footwear could sway easily from Karmaloop to Kohl’s. Best known for stacking a forefoot strap on any and every generic build, the brand went lux and left on 2009’s Turino.

To some surprise, Kanye West loved it.

Worn by West with some regularity from 2009 to 2011, the clean cream-colored kicks were a fixture for the multihyphenate, whether at Cannes Festival or on breezy beach vacations. Wearing the shoes with tailored suits or muted menswear, the Turino was a modern middle ground between Vans Authentics, adidas Stan Smiths, and actual dress shoes.

Image via Hypebeast

In hindsight, Kanye’s love for the Turino makes more sense than less. Aside from being an understated accessory to dress code-friendly outfits, the Turino tongue packs a similar design ethos to the Maison Margiela Future later favored by West during the Yeezus Tour.

The adidas Yeezy line has been all about reimagining the most significant trends in footwear in a manner that forces the consumer to rethink opinions. Case in point, the 750 reimagined the Ugg boot, the 350 ran off the Nike Roshe, the Foam RNNR called on the Croc, and the 700 series reimagined the dad shoe.

All of those passed the test when taking on snow, street, sand, and sod, but what happened when Kanye wanted to get wet?

Diving into new depths, the adidas Yeezy Scuba was wild even by Kanye indexing. Unlike anything under the Yeezy umbrella and not even akin to anything on the market, the sleek underwater shoes appeared in sample form on the feet of West and his daughter North.

Over time, the market has taken to Yeezy oddities like the Foam RNNR, 500, and 450. If released, could the Scuba catch? That remains to be seen, but the world was still caught off guard when they saw Kanye in these sea sneakers.

Kanye West changes opinions, he changes genres, and he changes shoes.

Throughout his career, Kanye West has established grooves both sonically and aesthetically, only to drastically depart from them soon after. In 2021, the movement that matters for Ye is his YEEZY brand: a billion-dollar empire built with adidas that releases some of the most progressive models in footwear co-created by industry adored disruptors.

So, what does the man with the billion-dollar brand do the first time he’s seen in public in 2021? Pop up in a pair of Nike Vandals.

This isn’t the first time Kanye has totally defied convention when it comes to his footwork, and it likely won’t be the last. Breaking the rules, breaking trends, and breaking contracts, Kanye has popped up in completely unexpected kicks that caused fans to either adjust their wardrobe or scratch their heads. From one-off wears to cultural shifts, see the most unforeseen footwear choices.

Kanye’s sneaker closet in 2018, image via Kanye West

In the time between 808s & Heartbreak and My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Kanye continued to shift sounds while returning to his rap roots. His Hawaii studio sessions would spawn seven-minute posse cuts characterized by aggressive bars, golden era production, and progressive layering.

Somehow that modernized mix of hybrid heritage seeped into his subconscious when it came to footwear. Appearing out and about in the Nike Zoom Alphalution from the Beaverton brand’s basketball Refresh program, the Alphalution similarly melted ‘80s ethos atop new-age tech.

Built to ball, caged Zoom Air appeared in the heel, famously propelling the Nike Zoom LeBron II, Steve Nash-endorsed Nike Zoom Drive, and signature styles designed for the likes of Michael Vick and Tiger Woods. For its namesake, the Alphalution was a hybrid between the Alpha Force and Revolution from the late 1980s. From a colorway standpoint, this pair directly riffed off the carbon fiber styling seen on the Nike Zoom Flight 95.

This one-and-done wear from West was about as close as Kanye ever really got to casually wearing a performance basketball shoe. Sure, Kanye was all about hoops models from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s when it came to Air Forces, Barkleys, and Jordans. On occasion, he’d rock low cut Kobes when seen in gym clothes, but it was this modernized mall shoe that defied convention for Kanye, only never to be seen on his feet again.

9. Vans Full Cab

Before signing design deals with Nike, Louis Vuitton, and adidas, Vans have seen fanfare from Kanye West despite his Midwest upbringing and backboard overboard flip sports background.

Nevertheless, the Vans Authentic and Sk8-Hi were both go-to models for West for much of the mid to late 2000s. The former found its way into West’s wardrobe as an understated accent piece when going dressy casual, while the latter was worn with laces low and tongues high as a way to amplify increasingly more tapered jeans.

By 2016, Kanye West was removed from Nike, no longer a footwear free agent and all in at adidas. Or so it seemed.

Just weeks after releasing “FACTS” – a victory lap diss track aimed at Nike after his first year of retail releases with adidas – Kanye popped up in the California ‘competitor’ in a photo with Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. The two would release the song “No More Parties in LA” with Kanye’s line “Some days I’m in my Yeezys / Some days I’m in my Vans,” igniting headlines that Kanye could once again jump ship.

Image via Vans

While those rumors were far-fetched, what remained random was the Vans model he wore: the Full Cab. Though Kanye was occasionally seen in custom Old Skools – the brand’s breadwinner in the mid-2010s – West wore the 1989 Steve Caballero signature in its original form. Famously, Caballero customized his Full Cabs into mid-tops with scissors and duct tape, laying the foundation for the much more popular Half Cab.

In 2021, Kanye is still active at adidas and rarely, if ever seen in Vans since the Full Cab sighting and line. Oddly enough, the semi non-competitor nature of Vans has allowed brand ambassadors and employees at an array of corporations the ability to get away with wearing their models both in the tunnel and at events.

It’s the influential rule-bending for Ye.

By the early 2010s, Kanye West had worn every OG Air Jordan model 1 through 8 with either regularity or variety throughout his career. In the days between the Nike Air Yeezy 1 arrival and Nike Air Yeezy 2 launch, Air Jordan 1s and Air Jordan 6s would rise to the top of his rotation with recent releases of both models – and the occasional ‘01 AJ1 – seeing traction while on stage or the runway.

In October of 2011, Kanye appeared at Bar Pitti in NYC for lunch, not in the Air Jordan 1 or Air Jordan 6, but rather the sum of their numbers: the Air Jordan 7. Not that weird, right? On the surface, no, but if you dig deeper, it’s one of the more random wears ever by Kanye.

As Day 1 fans know, the “Playoffs” or “Raptor” 7s were the go-to sneaker for Kanye West during his College Dropout days, rocking the second ring sneaker in the music video for “All Falls Down” and on the road when promoting his first album. The 1992 model received the retro treatment fittingly in 2002, often outfitting West in the public eye through 2004 only to be shelved for Bapestas, Vans, and designer sneakers while rolling out Late Registration.

Image via Flight Club

So, did a man who moved to Los Angeles, interned in Rome, and recorded in Hawaii over the course of almost a decade retain a nine-year-old pair of retros from his first album rollout? More realistically, did he keep the original pair tucked away in his New York apartment, or scoop up a pair from Flight Club in 2011 to wear once to an Italian lunch? Perhaps his protege Big Sean slid him a pair from his personal stash? The world will never know.

For sneakerheads of a certain age, Creative Recreation resonates as a moment in time when lifestyle footwear could sway easily from Karmaloop to Kohl’s. Best known for stacking a forefoot strap on any and every generic build, the brand went lux and left on 2009’s Turino.

To some surprise, Kanye West loved it.

Worn by West with some regularity from 2009 to 2011, the clean cream-colored kicks were a fixture for the multihyphenate, whether at Cannes Festival or on breezy beach vacations. Wearing the shoes with tailored suits or muted menswear, the Turino was a modern middle ground between Vans Authentics, adidas Stan Smiths, and actual dress shoes.

Image via Hypebeast

In hindsight, Kanye’s love for the Turino makes more sense than less. Aside from being an understated accessory to dress code-friendly outfits, the Turino tongue packs a similar design ethos to the Maison Margiela Future later favored by West during the Yeezus Tour.

The adidas Yeezy line has been all about reimagining the most significant trends in footwear in a manner that forces the consumer to rethink opinions. Case in point, the 750 reimagined the Ugg boot, the 350 ran off the Nike Roshe, the Foam RNNR called on the Croc, and the 700 series reimagined the dad shoe.

All of those passed the test when taking on snow, street, sand, and sod, but what happened when Kanye wanted to get wet?

Diving into new depths, the adidas Yeezy Scuba was wild even by Kanye indexing. Unlike anything under the Yeezy umbrella and not even akin to anything on the market, the sleek underwater shoes appeared in sample form on the feet of West and his daughter North.

Over time, the market has taken to Yeezy oddities like the Foam RNNR, 500, and 450. If released, could the Scuba catch? That remains to be seen, but the world was still caught off guard when they saw Kanye in these sea sneakers.

5. Under Armour Forge 96

In the late 2010s, Kanye West was under contract with adidas but occasionally seen in the competition. When wearing Vans, it often read as a subliminal to slight frustration with his sponsor but nothing serious. When seen with Salomon or hopping around in Hoka, it felt more like market research of new approaches and new tech.

So, what did it mean when Kanye arrived at an Apple store in the Under Armour Forge 96?

We’re still not sure. The Forge 96 served as the Baltimore brand’s retro running meets dad shoe design introduced in 2018 but meant to look like it was made in 1996. Because of all this, it made little to no sense when Kanye wore it though we’re not mad at it.

A good shoe by most measures, the Forge didn’t offer any heightened ideas or new technology when it came to market research like the designer dad shoes, combat boots, or trail runners he’d occasionally wear test.

Like other models on this list, it proved a one-and-done wear for Kanye. The question still remains as to why. Perhaps while shopping in Chicago for a new iPad, he stopped at the UA store on Michigan Avenue to research the competition and picked up a pair of Forges? Stranger things have happened.