Samples
Pieces Ye wore before they released, lookbook samples, and the ones that never got past the sample room. Each one's dated and sourced, with where it sells today when it does.
15 Aug 2020 · Twitter
Ye’s tweets became a fan-made Yeezy Gap catalogue. The Round Jacket wasn’t in it
Between the June 2020 deal and the first sale a year later, Yeezy Gap lived on Ye’s Twitter: a fitting clip from Wyoming, a wall of kids’ clothes and a bag he called a mock-up.
Read the storyIn the photos
- YZY GAP waterproof bag, mock-up
- Round Jacket, blue
28 Jul 2020 · Sotheby’s, New York (online)
The Air Yeezy sample Sotheby’s sold first still had its factory tag on
In July 2020 Sotheby’s sold a size 9 Zen Grey sample made at Nike’s Feng Tay factory in December 2008. A year later a wear-test pair surfaced with its strap cut off.
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- Air Yeezy sample, Zen Grey/Neon
- Air Yeezy wear-test sample (Nike)
- Air Yeezy ‘Zen Grey’
7 Apr 2020 · Calabasas, California
Ye wore a yellow Season 8 boot to the office 19 months before it dropped
A month after the Yeezy Season 8 runway in Paris, Ye turned up at Yeezy’s Calabasas office in its yellow boot. It went on sale in November 2021 as the Knit Runner Boot in Sulfur.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Season 8 boot, yellow
- Knit Runner Boot ‘Sulfur’
- Martine Rose fleece jacket, navy
1 Mar 2020 · Paris
Ye jumped a Paris puddle in the 451. It released a year later, renamed.
Ye tweeted the Yeezy 451 as an early prototype in April 2018 and wore a sample to Sunday Service in Paris in March 2020. It went on sale in 2021 as the Yeezy 450.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Yeezy 451 sample
- Yeezy 450 ‘Cloud White’
9 Nov 2019 · Astroworld Festival, Houston
Ye took Foam Runners to Astroworld seven months before they dropped
Days after he’d presented the shoe at Fast Company’s festival like a phone launch, Ye wore a pair on Travis Scott’s stage in Houston. Yeezy Supply didn’t release it until June 2020.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Foam Runner, pre-release pair
- Foam Runner ‘Ararat’
- Foam Runner ‘Stone Salt’
- Foam Runner ‘Clay Taupe’
15 Sep 2019 · Private airfield, Atlanta
DJ Khaled got the 700 V3 straight off Ye’s feet, three months early
Ye first showed a 700 V3 in August 2018, and it looked nothing like the shoe that released. The caged version turned up a year later, on Ye, on a red carpet and on an Atlanta airfield.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Yeezy 700 V3, first version
- Yeezy 700 V3 sample, white
- Yeezy 700 V3 ‘Azael’
21 Apr 2019 · Coachella, Indio, California
Ye’s choir wore the Scuba at Coachella. It was never sold to the public.
Sunday Service played Coachella on Easter 2019 with the choir in a neoprene sock boot. Its tag reads SAMPLE, its designer says it led to the 380, and nobody could buy one.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Coachella Scuba sample, dark grey
- Yeezy Boost 380 ‘Alien’
14 Dec 2018 · Twitter
Ye’s mirror selfie was about his joggers. Everyone zoomed in on the boots.
In December 2018 Ye tweeted a fit pic in black Yeezy boots nobody had seen. Hypebeast and Complex tied them to a deleted sketch of his 2019 line, and neither could name them.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Yeezy boot, black
- Brain Dead joggers
19 Apr 2018 · Twitter
Ye posted the first Yeezy Slide in 2018 and called it a rough draft
In April 2018 Ye tweeted a chunky blue clog with a jagged sole, and the internet had jokes ready. The slide adidas released in December 2019 kept almost none of it.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Yeezy Slide sample, blue
- Yeezy Slide ‘Resin’
- Yeezy Slide ‘Desert Sand’
19 Apr 2018 · Twitter
Ye teased a Yeezy basketball shoe in 2018. It arrived by truck in 2020
One photo and a basketball emoji in April 2018. The Quantum didn’t reach the public until All-Star weekend 2020, when Ye’s team handed out free pairs from all-terrain trucks around Chicago.
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- Yeezy basketball high-top, as posted
- Yeezy Quantum ‘Quantum’
- Yeezy Quantum ‘Frozen Blue’
24 Nov 2017 · Maxfield, West Hollywood
Ye wore an unseen yellow 350 V2 to Maxfield. Fans named it the Lime.
On Black Friday 2017 he went shopping in West Hollywood in a stripeless pale yellow sample. adidas’s next pale yellow pair, the Butter, came seven months later.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Yeezy Boost 350 V2 sample, pale yellow
- Yeezy Boost 350 V2 ‘Butter’
22 Sep 2017
Ye wore Wave Runner samples all through 2017. Everyone else waited on a pre-order.
In the second half of 2017 the only Wave Runner anyone could order was a pre-order that shipped in November. Ye spent those months in green, high-cut and reflective pairs that weren’t on any release list.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Wave Runner 700 sample, grey, green and gum
- Wave Runner 700 sample, black and ash grey, reflective
- Yeezy Boost 700 ‘Wave Runner’
28 Aug 2011 · MTV Video Music Awards, Los Angeles
Ye wore the Air Yeezy 2 for almost 16 months before Nike sold a pair
It first showed up in Kobe Bryant’s short film in February 2011, then at Coachella, the VMAs and the Victoria’s Secret show. Retail came in June 2012, and the red one two years after that.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Air Yeezy 2 samples
- Air Yeezy 2 ‘Pure Platinum’
- Air Yeezy 2 ‘Black/Solar Red’
- Air Yeezy 2 ‘Red October’
10 Feb 2008 · 50th Grammy Awards, Los Angeles
Ye wore an Air Yeezy sample to the 2008 Grammys. It sold for $1.8 million.
On 10 Feb 2008 he performed in a black Nike high-top even collectors couldn’t place. It was the first look at the Air Yeezy, 14 months before release.
Read the storyIn the photos
- Air Yeezy sample, black
- Air Yeezy ‘Blink’
- Air Yeezy ‘Zen Grey’