German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas has announced the sale of the remaining products from its Yeezy range that stem from the collaboration with the controversial rapper Kanye West.
Adidas parted ways with West in 2022 after the musician and designer made several statements that were perceived as anti-Semitic, which led to considerable losses for the company.
Whether the remaining stock would be sold was unclear for a long time. Two instalments have now been sold and the next one is to follow. Adidas has announced an end to sales at the end of the year.
The products will only be available online, Adidas announced in the southern German town of Herzogenaurach where it is headquartered on Monday.
The company said weeks ago that it would be launching more Yeezy products on the market this year at cost-covering prices. This would mean sales totalling around €250 million ($270 million). According to Adidas, this would make further significant write-offs unnecessary.
In 2022, Adidas generated sales of €1.2 billion with most of its high-priced designer products. In the meantime, there were fears of losses for the operating result in the event that larger items had to be written off.
The sales in 2023 generated revenue totalling €750 million.
According to the company, significant amounts of the proceeds were donated to organizations that campaign against discrimination and hatred, including racism and anti-Semitism.
Adidas now assumes that it will only have to write off smaller items in the double-digit million euro range, such as damaged goods or products that are only available in individual sizes.
