Kanye Working His Look

Teaming up with cult designer Jean Touitou, the Creative Director of French brand A.P.C, Kanye West has made yet another foray into the world of fashion design. While his eponymous collections may have been panned when they were presented at Paris fashion week, his more recent efforts have been much more successful with his capsule lining selling out instantly.

And while we are interested in the quiet street classic mini line for A.P.C, we are more intrigued about Touitou’s account of working with the rap superstar on the collaboration, two years in the making. For starters Touitou told Style.com that West was pretty damn particular about what he wanted. “He could want a piece to be baggy and skinny at the same time,” Touitou describes, “When you deal with a guy who wants to redesign just about anything so it could fit [into the] kingdom of dopeness, it takes some time to just sit and say, “Okay, agreed.” Sounds tricky!

The Sell-Out Kanye West for A.P.C collection

Touitou described his first ever meeting with West to Grazia earlier this year: “The first time I had a talk with Kanye West – he wanted some information about fashion – we spoke to each other for 2 hours,” said Touitou, “Now this gives you an idea of my awareness of celebrities, but some time into the conversation I had to say ‘Sir what is you trade, what do you do in life’ I didn’t know who the guy was… We actually got to know each other more and I found his music interesting in the end.”

While Touitou might have been out of the loop, the rest of the world is well aware of Mr West’s impact on the world – from GoldDigger to being Kim K’s baby daddy. Read on below to see out favourite KW quotes on what fashion means to him….

1. His Impact On The Fashion World and Beyond  

“I think what Kanye West is going to mean is something similar to what Steve Jobs means. I am undoubtedly, you know, Steve of internet, downtown, fashion, culture. Period. By a long jump.”

2. The Contents of His Fashion Brain

“Visiting my mind is like visiting the Hermes factory. Shit is real. You’re not going to find a chink. It’s 100,000 percent Jimi Hendrix.”

3. The Pains of Working in Fashion

“I thank Marc Jacobs so much for giving me the opportunity to design a shoe for Louis Vuitton, but the thing that broke my heart most was when they said, “You’re finished. The shoe’s finished.”

More Kanye Looks, Right Kim Kardashian With Kanye

4. On Minimalism

“I’m just trying to cut away all the — you know, it’s even like what we talk about with clothing and fashion, that sometimes all that gets in the way. You even see the way I dress now is so super straight.”

5. His Fashion Connections

“I’ve been connected to the most culturally important albums of the past four years, the most influential artists of the past ten years. You have like, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, Nicolas Ghesquière, Anna Wintour, David Stern.”

6. The Pain of Fashion (again)

“Fashion breaks my heart”

7. His Festive Fashion Ambitions

“I sat down with a clothing guy that I won’t mention, but hopefully if he reads this article, he knows it’s him and knows that out of respect, I didn’t mention his name: this guy, he questioned me before I left his office:, “If you’ve done this, this, and this, why haven’t you gone further in fashion” And I say, “I’m learning.” But ultimately, this guy that was talking to me doesn’t make Christmas presents,” meaning that nobody was asking for his [stuff] as a Christmas present. If you don’t make Christmas presents, meaning making something that’s so emotionally connected to people, don’t talk to me.”