Adidas to sell Yeezy shoes after split up with Kanye West 

The Sportswear company Adidas says the first release of unsold inventory helped reduce its expected yearly losses by €250m. 

Adidas will sell a second collection of Yeezy shoes, including a few of its most famous lines, after sales from the first reduced anticipated annual losses by €250m.

The German sportswear brand said in May it would not destroy the unsold goods from its now-defunct Yeezy collaboration with Kanye West, who changed his name to Ye in 2021, and would instead try to sell the shoes and donate several of the proceeds to those harmed by the rapper’s words.

Adidas has been stuck with many pairs of Yeezy trainers since last October when it broke up with Ye after he made antisemitic remarks on social media.

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The defeat contributed to Adidas’ warning it predicted its first annual loss in 31 years in 2023 after shutting down the brand, which had generated €1.7bn (£1.5bn) in sales and near to €700m in operating profit in 2022.

The latest release of Yeezy shoes was announced just days after Adidas said that sales from the first set between late May and early June had declined a possible write-off from remaining inventory by €100m to €400m. 

The firm now expects to report an operating loss of €450m in 2023, down from an earlier forecasted €700m.