Adidas and Kanye West’s love children, the Yeezy Boost sneakers, may have been an unusual silhouette at launch, but after three versions, it still is a seriously unattractive shoe

By Shu Xie

It’s easy to dislike the Yeezy. Well, it’s easy for me. Some things just don’t click at first sight; some things just repel. The Yeezies (Yeezys?) are definitely them. Firstly, I am not a fan of the knitted upper as I like firmer yet supple fabrics, such as leather. Secondly, I do not, with respect to the engineering and design team at Adidas, consider the Boost sole to be terribly original since Nike’s Roshe Run was way ahead with their minimalist, one-piece, no-visible-air-pockets Phylon midsole, as well as the Waffle-inspired outsole, which, according to the latter’s designer Dylan Raasch was meant to be evocative of the stepping stones of a Zen garden. Now, that’s conceptual heft.

From the first, the Yeezy 750 Boost, to the latest, the 350 V2, I have always thought the range to be a bit like footwear for abominable snow creatures. Sure, the 350 has become a hit, but they still look primitive to me. This has nothing to do with the fact that it wants to stand apart from the hi-tech kicks, and bombastic ones too, that the market is flooded with—Adidas boldly thinks it “transcends footwear trends”; this is to do with a form factor that does not make feet look attractive.

The ‘’Cream White’ version (because they can’t decide if it’s cream or white?) of what is officially known as Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Design by Kanye West is launched worldwide today. According to media reports, people around the world have been queuing up outside official retailers at least a week ago, with some setting up camp to make the wait bearable. In Singapore, Adidas held an online ballot this past Wednesday and the lucky winners were able to pick up their prized 350 V2 at the adidas Originals store at Pacific Plaza this morning. Not too much to go through for a pair of shoes linked to a rap artiste with a reality-TV-star wife? Or, are they truly capable of inducing a dopamine rush?

I want to be fond of the Yeezy Boost, but it’s like falling in love with the first person you meet on Tinder: hard. None of the three versions has a pull that many other hot sneakers have. No matter from which angle I look at the 350 V2, I can’t see its aesthetic value, even when Adidas call it “classic”. There’s the roundish shape of the top, which, when you look down at it, makes the widest part of your foot appear even wider. Because of the sock-like upper, there’s the tongue that, together with the collar, looks like a truncated proboscis with a concave lip that has gulped down the ankle. And that cryptic code SPLY-350 that, for some reason, is utterly discreet in the ‘Cream White’, but still there, possibly to identify the wearer as belonging to the tribe that is besotted with anything remotely connected with the Life of Pablo. The ‘Cream White’ just looks like footwear that will delight the nursing sorority.

It comes with what Adidas calls “a security feature”: a stripe that runs down the middle that can only been seen in UV light. This, it seems, is to help identify the fakes. Such a measure is enough to make the latest iteration of this low-cut even more desirable, to the point that in Denmark, three days before the official launch, thieves relieved a truck delivering the 350 V2 ‘Cream White’ to a shop its entire content. See, you can deter the copycats, but you can’t stop bandits.

On the SG Adidas site, the announcement is clear: “Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Design by Kanye West Sold Out”. Photo: Adidas