Kanye West slammed for selling $200 ‘sock’ shoes

Kanye West has been slammed over his selling a garment which is somewhere between a pair of shoes and a pair of socks.

The release of the garment is Kanye's first since his very public fallout with massive fashion retailer Adidas, but instead of excitement for the brand, people have taken to social media to have their say - and it's not great.

The shoe in question, known as the YZY POD - does undoubtably look like a pair of large tube socks, but are actually robust enough to wear out and about.

The shoes are described as 'foldable' and 'travel-friendly' and are now available for presale.

A statement said: “YEEZY debuts the foldable future of footwear, YZY POD.”

Design choices aside, it's the shoe's price which has drawn attention, with many people left aghast by the price tag.

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One person wrote: “Who is paying [$200] for a pair of socks lol."

A second posted: “Is it $200 per sock, or do you get a pair?”, while a third said simply: “YE $200 for a sock is crazy."

Kenneth Anand works with YEEZY, and defended the high price tag as it is reflective of the high quality of the materials used in manufacturing the garments.

Anand continued: “People who are criticizing the price on the Yeezy sock shoes may not understand the high cost of making quality products, especially for independent brands."

He added: “By comparison, luxury brands Vetements and Balenciaga are both selling extremely similar, if not identical, sock shoes; the Yeezy models are cheaper by about $400 or more, so arguably Kanye could have raised his price.”

With the design and the price being questioned by fans, some have also been left confused by the sizing of the YZY POD.

Usually you could expect to buy shoes in a variety of different sizes, however, with the new shoes from YEEZY there are just three sizes available, simply called one, two, and three.

The sizes have left fans confused as to which they should order, as no one wants a pair of shoes with their feet clunking round inside, or pinching their toes.

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One fan wrote: “I was deadass gonna order a pair but I need to know how the sizes work. Please break it down bru."

Another asked: “What does size 1 2 3 mean?”

The release is the first set of shoes to be announced by West since he was dropped by Adidas in October 2022 following a string of antisemitic comments.

A statement from Adidas said: “Adidas does not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech.

“Ye’s recent comments and actions have been unacceptable, hateful and dangerous, and they violate the company’s values of diversity and inclusion, mutual respect and fairness.”

UNILAD has reached out to representatives of Kanye West for comment.