Thu 5 Jan 2012
Kanye Shares His Inner Thoughts and Future Goals: Fashion, the ‘Donda’ Launch, Philanthropy
Posted by Mikey Fresh under Fashion , Life Beyond Rap , Quotes[14] Comments
When Kanye has a vision no one can really stop him. Last night, Mr. West opened up his heart and mind on his Twitter account. What started as a few clarifications about his woman’s clothing line, which is actually called “Kanye West’ and not “Dw,” turned into a super long spiel about his journey in the fashion world.
Ye revealed that he worked for Fendi and had to turn down an offer at Versace because of his contract with LV. He went on to open up about the learning experience he had while living in Paris and Japan, which led him to break the news about his new creative agency he plans on starting, dubbed DONDA. Named after his mother, the leader of G.O.O.D. Music went on to explain how his company will hire fashion creatives, scientists, teachers, managers, and a whole lot more. Ultimately, Kanye wants his company to help the world be a better place. He wants to start alternative schools and use his power to help better society. I think…
Read his entire Twitter announcement after the jump…
I appreciate everyone’s support for my clothing line but I wanted to clarify a few things… The name of the line is Kanye West not DW… The DW was a design element placed on the invite in homage to my mom :-). I really appreciate the fake DW twitter page but since it’s not official I can’t co-sign any information on it.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
More clarity… I have no agency representing me currently… William Morris was fired after Cara Lewis quit. I love Cara Lewis :-).
I love being back at my fashion office learning and creating. It’s so challenging and fun and I’m surrounded by amazing people. They say you only live once but every time I come to work I feel like I’m starting a second life. You guys might think I have some type of backing for my line but I don’t. I did the first fashion show out of my own pocket and used the money I made touring to follow my passion. I’ve been working at this for 8 years now. From the first offers to do urban clothing lines that I turned down…to begging Bape to do my line and never making any real headway…to having an office in LA that was shut down after the “MTV” moment along with my tour with (Lady) Gaga.
I moved to Japan for one month after that and designed every night in my room. I had this opportunity to intern at Fendi and was also offered a position at Versace which I could not take due to my contract with LV which was for 2 years. I moved to Rome after I left Japan and worked at Fendi for 4 months undercover. I was there to give ideas for the men’s collection. I snuck to Giuseppe Zanotti’s factory still under contract and learned to design womens shoes for 2 years before my first show in Paris. After doing the first LV collection I was sure I would get a second shot to create but was never given the opportunity.
I designed a sneaker called the (Air) Yeezy with Nike. I’m “allowed” to design 1 pair of sneakers every 2 years. I have more ideas…
Early 2011 I moved to Paris and opened a small design studio. The language barrier was quite difficult. I still don’t have a Paris VAT number to this day. I don’t know what a VAT is but every time I asked why we didn’t have fabrics they said it was because of the VAT. In Paris I met many great people in design including the master Azzedine Alaia. Azzedine even came by my studio one day :-). This was the greatest feeling to stand in his presence in my embarrassingly small Paris studio in a courtyard opposite Collate.
I remember being 5 years old picking and my mother taking me with her shopping at the discount fur spots. She said I would always point to the most expensive furs, even as a child. LOL. There is something about making clothing that always brings me back to that point. For the first 16 or 17 years of my life the only thing I knew about women’s clothing was what my Mom would wear. I guess some critics would joke that I still don’t know anything. LOL. My Mom would wear blue jeans with a fur and an embellished “Cosby Show” sweater 🙂 to pick me up from school. The teachers said I couldn’t focus. I used to get kicked out of class for bringing dirty magazines and drawing Nike’s in 4th grade.
Being a celebrity has afforded me many opportunities but has also boxed me in creatively. I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson movie and someone on the call yelled out, “you should do a Jetsons tour!”
This just happened a few hours ago. I was very insulted of course because for anyone that’s seen the Watch the Throne Tour, Coachella, Glow in the Dark or Runaway know that I have real ideas.
I appreciate having the most nominations at the Grammy’s but I feel so conflicted by the fact that award shows sometimes are completely illogical. Good logic tells me “smile Kanye”, the world likes you again. “Red or blue pill?”…aaaaand Swallow. LOL. I wouldn’t have the prestige I have if it wasn’t partially for the Grammy’s validation and I honor that.
Hmmmmm, what to wear? Here I go again… Yeezy the trend setter or complete f*cking fashion victim…the verdict is still out. This is just a train of thought but I figure it’s better to read than trained thoughts.
What good is fame and prestige if you can’t use it to help people? I want to help by doing what I know how to do best…create.
I have started a new company and I’m so excited about the name…it’s got the best name ever…of all companies…of all time!!!
The name of the company is DONDA.
DONDA is a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce there dreams and ideas. I used to blog all the time an fit was a way to get my opinion out. Dr Dre redesigned headphones and made more impact off of one product. I am assembling a team of architects, graphic designers, directors musicians, producers, A&Rs, writers, publicist, social media experts, app guys, managers, car designers, clothing designers, DJs, video game designers, publishers, tech guys, lawyers, bankers, nutritionists, doctors, scientists and teachers.
DONDA will be comprised of over 22 divisions with a goal to make products and experiences that people want and can afford. I want to put creatives in a room together with like minds that are all way doper than me. We want to help simplify and aesthetically improve everything we see hear, touch, taste and feel. To dream of, create, advertise and produce products driven equally by emotional want and utilitarian need.. To marry our wants and needs…DONDA.
This will all take time but I wanted everyone’s to know what I really care about…I care about people…I care about my fans…I care about people who have never heard of me…There are over 7 billion people on the planet now…It’s something about coming from music that makes me so optimistic. Music travels and is not limited to only the wealthy. Sometimes my grammar is wrong but my thinking is right :-). My mom was an English teacher so I know she sends an SMDH from heaven :-). 5:18 am in London, my dreams keep me woke.
The Watch the Throne tour was a small example of what a DONDA experience can be…
I’m currently working on a new 7 screen experience…
This is one of our projects to be released this year called 2016 Olympics…It’s semi sci-fi, since 2016 is only 4 years away, :-).
We would also like to design the MTV awards. We’re taking everything 10 steps at a time, LOL! I wanted to put this in the world, in hopes that the people who can actually make a difference will stand up and reach out. We need as many amazing powerful smart talented wealthy people to be involved. Come get on board…don’t just sit there…reach out.
We can collectively effect the world through design. We need to pick up where Steve Jobs left off.
When I said wealthy I wanted to point out there are so many billionaires in the world that can come together and help to redesign it and help education. School systems were designed to turn people into factory workers. Schools should be designed to prep human beings for real life.
Spike Jonze and I want to do a Summer school that tries new forms of curriculum. Math classes should teach addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, accounting and money management aaaaaand cut!!!
UNLESS YOU’RE A MATH MAJOR!!! Kids you should be able to take majors starting in grammar school like how it is at performing art schools. Instead of kicking kids out of schools for using their iPhones…why not promote it?
Allow kids to use search engines to do test…like the real WORLD!!! Give kids the amount of test they would have in a year in one day but they have to get everything perfect…please excuse my grammar…I know it’s extremely ironic.
Some kids have better memories than others…what about emotional IQ’s? What about kids who do bad in school because of how bad their surroundings are?
Excuse me…I just get excited at the possibilities…the more excited I get the more grammatical errors you’ll see…
We need to take what Michael Jackson felt and Mcqueen and Steve Jobs, and we need make things better.
When me and Jay toured, every night I peered into the audience astonished by the different walks of life that came to support us.
The adrenaline is running…I don’t know if I can even get to sleep now. From Wall Street to the London riots to Chicago murders…I sit everyday and ask what can I do to make a difference. I know this is not a very rapper thing to say but I haven’t bought a new car or piece of jewelry in about 2 years.
I invest every dime back into creativity, hiring amazing creatives, paying for flights, offices…etc. My area of expertise is in music, my passion is in music, design, film and products…my strength is connectivity…
There are so many broken systems from the economy to school systems to jail systems…we need experts for this. We need scientist and top world designers to directly affect governments.
If anyone would like to reach out email us at [email protected].
I just wanted to share what’s been on my mind…
“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple…but if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” – George Bernard Shaw
Previously:
Amber Rose Thanks Kim Kardashian For Causing Her Kanye West Breakup
Kanye West, Fergie, Big Sean & Kid Cudi Perform In Las Vegas (Video)
January 5th, 2012 at 9:31 am
he’s amazing! love him!
January 5th, 2012 at 10:31 am
Well Said Mr.West.. Your Great !!!!
January 5th, 2012 at 11:20 am
Glad to see a rapper that is thinking outside of what 6-figure car or overpriced, fake, candy-colored chain he can/will buy/rent/lease. Good going Kanye. G-dspeed.
January 5th, 2012 at 11:25 am
This reminds me of the late night breakthrough light bulb moment in Jerry Maguire, hopefully kanye gets to keep his job the next day though
January 5th, 2012 at 11:33 am
I hope his visions succeed, I don’t care much for fashion but what he had to say about the curriculum and schooling was on point, it needs changing.
January 5th, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Knaye is a very misunderstood man. What he put out there is something people who are in the celebrity roles should have been thinking about decades ago…congrats. I may actually use that e-mail address.
January 5th, 2012 at 2:32 pm
This is one of the Few twitter effects I can actually appreciate (besides no stop shameless self-promotion) we get to see parts of people’s personality we wouldn’t other wise see. I don’t mind promotions long as you dabble a portion of your personality on it. Glad to see Kanye has added humility to his vocab to start the year off. And he’s on point fame has a price you can repay it back by helping other’s capitalize from yours.
January 5th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
two words, kanye : khan academy.
contact sal khan; use your influence to promote his curriculum–like the gates foundation did–, and your problem will be solved.
January 5th, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Some people are celebrities for a reason. He always has something to say that people need to hear.
January 5th, 2012 at 3:34 pm
your problem?
January 5th, 2012 at 4:59 pm
I’m glad this website is posting what he actually said and not twisting it to make him look crazier than he actually is. I went to other websites and saw them call this a meltdown, a rant, a courtney love-esque twitter session etc just to get hits on their website. Its good to finally see someone not being over dramatic with post titles while throwing kanye under the bus, when he really came across smart and forward-thinking with really good ideas. Even though people try to make him sound crazy he always keeps it real, and is always on point when you really listen to what he has to say.
January 6th, 2012 at 8:39 am
I will send my resume to DONDA under Opinion Expert. ‘Bout time a hip hop artist/entertainment exec wants to recognize fresh-undiscovered business/marketing talent. #OccupyCroynism
January 24th, 2012 at 1:53 am
Whoa! Mostly comments here are Negatives?
I hoped Kanye will successful!
May 1st, 2014 at 1:43 pm
hot dogs i love em