Adidas reportedly receives €508 million in Yeezy orders

Adidas is said to have received €508 million in orders for 4 million pairs of shoes from the now defunct Yeezy partnership, according to the Financial Times. This, sources report, exceeded the company’s most optimistic forecast, although total net sales were lower than the value of the stock.

In its first sale via adidas.com/yeezy and the Adidas Confirmed app., Adidas reportedly offered 15 different Yeezy models including the 500 Utility Black, which resale for an average of €268 a pair on StockX.com, and sold out within hours.

During its Q1 call in May 2023, Adidas confirmed it would face a revenue loss of approximately €1.2 billion and a negative operating income impact of €500 million this year if it decided not to sell the Yeezy inventory.

CEO Bjørn Gulden said at the time that Adidas was “getting closer and closer to making a decision” on what to do with the unsold Yeezys, suggesting the group’s options for the product were narrowing. 

In a later AGM, Gulden declared: “Burning the goods is not the solution.” Instead, the proposed solution was to sell the goods and donate the profits to organizations representing the interests of those Ye has harmed with his anti-semitic comments.

However the exact details – including whether Ye (aka Kanye West) would receive any commission and when and how any sales of inventory would take place – have never been confirmed, with Gulden only quoted as saying, “We are working on these things.”

The Financial Times further reports today however, that, in a first step, five charities in the U.S. and China, including the Anti Defamation League and the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change, have been chosen to receive a donation from the sale of Yeezy footwear.

Adidas ceased its partnership with rapper and designer Ye in Oct. 2022, following mounting public pressure after weeks of public antisemitic remarks by Ye.