The rapper formerly known as Kanye West dominated the conversation around Paris Fashion Week for a second day as he unleashed a torrent of Instagram posts and stories firing back at critics and industry figures.
West first aggravated the fashion industry on Monday night by staging an over-an-hour-late presentation of his ninth Yeezy collection in Paris. However, it is one T-shirt — which read “White Lives Matter,” a phrase widely associated with hate groups — that has wreaked serious havoc in the aftermath.
While many critics and industry insiders condemned the T-shirt online, West singled out Vogue contributing editor and influential stylist Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who voiced criticism of the sentiment on her personal Instagram — calling it “indefensible behaviour” and an “incredibly irresponsible and dangerous act.” In response, he took to his own Instagram account to ridicule her clothing and appearance in posts that have since been deleted.
West then lashed out at Bernard Arnault, the chairman and CEO of LVMH, owner of Louis Vuitton, where the late Virgil Abloh, once a good friend of West’s, was creative director for menswear:
“CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE HOW LATE THE SHOW WAS OR HOW BERNARD ARNAULT KILLED MY BEST FRIEND EVERYONE’S GOT A RIGHT TO AN OPINION RIGHT THERE’S MINE.”
In an Instagram Story that was a screenshot of a deleted grid post, West also singled out LVMH Fashion Group CEO Sidney Toledano.
“LVMH IS TRYING TO KILL MY FRIENDS ONE BY ONE,” he wrote. “MATT [Matthew L. Williams, current Givenchy creative director] I DIDN’T LIKE THE WAY SIDNEY TOLEDANO SPOKE TO YOU BEFORE YOUR SHOW THE OTHER DAY AND THEY FORCED YOU TO MAKE CLOTHES THAT WEREN’T YOU AND KIM JONES IS…[cuts off].”
(A representative for LVMH did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Back on the grid, on a black square in all caps, he wrote, “WHEN I SAID WAR I MEANT WAR.”
While industry colleagues and friends — including model Gigi Hadid — have publicly shown support for Karefa-Johnson, the stylist has not engaged with West further online, and did not immediately respond to an email or text request for comment from BoF. Supreme Creative Director Tremaine Emory took to his own account to defend her, also alleging that West had spoken disparagingly of Abloh in private:
“I gotta draw the line at you using Virgil’s death in your ‘ye’ is the victim campaign in front your sycophant peanut algorithm gallery Your best friend Virgil, NEGRO PLEASE , this time last year you said Virgil’s designs are a disgrace to the black community infont of all your employees at yeezy.…Your not a victim your just an insecure narcissist that’s dying for validation from the fashion world…. [sic]”
Several fashion insiders, including A-COLD-WALL* designer Samuel Ross and American Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Samira Nasr, commented on Emory’s post in a show of solidarity. (Emory did not respond to an immediate request for further comment.)
West eventually responded Emory as well, writing, “IN WAR THEY WILL SEND YOUR OWN PEOPLE AT YOU…GOOD ONE BERNARD,” on his Instagram grid.
Over the years, West has made several attempts at earning the respect and validation of the fashion industry, first in 2011 with a poorly received ready-to-wear collection, then years later with the rise of Yeezy apparel. His increasingly violent and erratic online outbursts — for which many have questioned the state of his mental health — has coincided with a failed mass market-venture with Gap and what he said is a planned exit from his lucrative contract for Yeezy sneakers with Adidas.
Whether he will be given yet another chance is, perhaps for the first time, uncertain.
Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders’ documentation guaranteeing BoF’s complete editorial independence.
