Following kanye-west‘s inflammatory White Lives Matter Shirts at his YZY Paris fashion show earlier this month, it was unclear where the graphic tees would end up. But in a video posted by Ian Connor: an associate of West’s and a popular hairstylist who was accused of sexual assault by at least half a dozen women – It appears that West’s team handed out the free T-shirts in Los Angeles’ Skid Row neighborhood on Sunday night.
“Courtesy of kanye-westa voice says in the quick video, with the camera panning to show a busy street and a van loaded with boxes. A man wearing a T-shirt from Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of former Los Angeles gang members, walks toward the car as the man filming encourages him to “hang” it at his concession stand.
Video: Kanye West defends wearing the ‘White Lives Matter’ shirt
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Connor also posted an image of a woman posing in the oversized t-shirt, captioning the post “Load 1 – Skid Röw.” (A source close to the drops claimed Rolling Stone that there are plans for a second round of releases).
It appears that West plans to get rid of the shirts for free after claiming that Founder of American Apparel Dov Charney, which now runs Los Angeles Apparel, had refused to release the T-shirts his company made after West declared he was about to do “death with 3” on “the Jews.” (A source close to Charney declined to comment on the jerseys or West’s claims.)
Connor has been posting frequently about his recent collaborations with West, like the “Tremendez” t-shirt West wore to recent movie RevoltTV baby champions episodewhere the rapper falsely claimed that the death of George Floyd was caused by fentanylHe made more anti-Semitic comments and made fun of Kim Kardashian’s ex-boyfriend, Pete Davidson.
The t-shirt West wore in the since-deleted video is a representation of Tremaine Emory, the creative director of Supreme and founder of the streetwear brand Denim Tears. West has been singling out Emory after she came out in defense of Fashion stylist and editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, who criticized West’s White Lives Matter T-shirts and criticized West for accusing LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault of “killing” his close friend, designer Virgil Abloh. (Abloh died of cancer last November..)
Connor also took credit for being the “creative director” for another jersey that was a riff on Muhammad Ali taking on Superman, but with West as the legendary boxer and Emory as the superhero.
“I love love this,” West reportedly texted Connor, according to a screenshot he posted.and days later baby champions host NORE was later seen wearing the jersey. Weekend, West was seen wearing another shirt representing Emory. mouth covered by a white hand wearing an American stars and stripes T-shirt.
Connor’s resurgence in West’s inner circle is surprising, considering the stylist hasn’t been publicly linked to West since around 2016. Before that, Connor was labeled as West’s fashion muse.modeling in his Yeezy shows and serving as a consultant for the brand.
The then-23-year-old was hip-hop’s fashion stylist and consultant, frequently working with A$AP Rocky and A$AP Mob at the height of their influence, and close to Abloh, whose Off-White label was developing a cult following. Connor has posed for Vogue ItalyHe frequently appeared on Hypebeast and launched the successful clothing brand Sickö, which has been worn by Skepta, Zack Bia, and others.
But in June 2016, Rapper Theophilus London claimed that West had fired Connor. Connor’s estrangement also coincided with at least half a dozen other women. including Chicago artist Jean Deaux— coming forward to accuse Connor of sexual assault. (In July 2016, Connor denied the allegations and said Usually: “I do not condone rape and I have never raped anyone. Why force someone to do something they don’t want to do? Any forced situation is not cool. Connor did not immediately respond to Rolling Stonerequest for comments.)
Amber Rose, who dated West from 2008 to 2010, he claimed the daily beast in 2018 that 21 women had contacted her privately about Connor, saying she was disappointed more men in the industry hadn’t addressed the allegations. “I do not know why [Connor’s] still going around,” he said. “I’m upset with him, because I really believe he did everything they said he did. It’s very, very sad.”
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