Kanye West might have grand plans to run for president, but he’ll probably struggle to get designer Anne Bowen and Naeem Khan’s vote.
The musician/designer/aspiring politician has caused quite the headache for the two labels, scheduling his last-minute Kanye West x Adidas Originals Collection (Yeezy Season 2) show at the same time as their shows on September 16 at noon.
Anne’s not impressed, implying to WWD that Kanye’s getting preferential treatment because of his celebrity status. “We have been prepping for a year for this at considerable financial, labor and commitment cost to our company,” she explained of the nuisance.
Photo: Getty
“Our show date has been scheduled for months and has been on the Fashion Calendar for weeks. We went through all the proper channels to make this a reality. And just yesterday we learned that Kanye West is having a show at the same time on the same date as ours,” she continued.
“Kanye knows he is a media sensation and it is just not ethical to do this. It’s like we are David and he is Goliath. We have put our heart and soul into our show, and should not be stepped on like this.”
Anne has now rescheduled her show to September 17 at 12.30 p.m, presumably so she has a fighting chance at a solid FROW attendance. “In order for our show to have any significance, we now have to move our date and time which is a logistical nightmare, three days out from our originally scheduled time,” Anne explained.
Anne’s publicist told WWD that the date change has created big problems. “We’re scrambling like crazy and it’s costing us a lot of money,” she explained, noting that they’re in the process of trying to secure the same models and photographers.
They also have to try and get back in touch with the original attendees, who were originally sent out printed invites by hand.
As of today, a Naeem Khan spokeswoman confirmed that Kanye’s surprise runway wouldn’t be affecting the label’s presentation. “I can tell you that as of now, the show is going on as planned,” she said.
Naeem Khan Spring 2015/ Photo: IMAXTree
Anne’s publicist explained that Naeem’s collection isn’t such a big conflict due to the collection being eveningwear. Anne’s streetwear collection is obviously more competitive with West’s new range, and the designer has listed a complaint with CFDA Fashion Calendar over the upset.
Image: Getty
CFDA’s president, Steven Kolb, contended that Kanye hadn’t even listed his show on the Fashion Calendar. “The first I heard about the Kanye show was what I read in the Post,” he explained. “There was no listing on the Fashion Calendar, and we didn’t know about it. We can’t avoid conflicts unless we know someone’s doing it.”
[Via WWD]
