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Adidas has announced that it will sell more of its stock of Yeezy products in August and reiterated a pledge to donate part of the proceeds to groups fighting discrimination, without saying how much it would give.
The brand stopped selling Yeezy shoes and abandoned its collaboration with their designer, rapper Ye, late last year after the artist, formerly known as Kanye West, went on a string of antisemitic rants in interviews and on social media.
However, as its large Yeezy inventory weighed on the business, Adidas began selling the highly profitable shoes again at the end of May. Their enduring popularity – despite Ye’s fall from grace – helped narrow the company’s projected loss for the year.
Said Adidas in a statement:
It added the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS) to the list of charities it pledged to support, having already announced that it would donate to the Antidefamation League and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change.
Some Yeezy shoes sold directly by Adidas in North America will come with a square blue pin, the symbol of the Stand Up to Jewish Hate campaign run by the FCAS.
READ: Kanye West: Mega musician turned cult leader?
While the antisemitic rants cost Ye his talent agent and partnerships with Gap and Balenciaga, as well as Adidas, the Yeezy shoes remain in demand and sell at high premiums on resale sites.
Adidas said the August drop would include some of the most popular designs, including the Yeezy Boost 350 V2, 500 and 700, as well as the Yeezy Slide and Foam Runner.
Adidas has sold €100 million (R1.943 billion) of its Yeezy stock so far, according to Deutsche Bank analysts, who said the risk of a writedown of the inventory was now “remote".
