Released on August 21,2021, Donda is Kanye West’s tenth studio album. Donda’s merch sales made him break the record for the highest-grossing US tour by an artist.
Kanye West’s Journey with Fashion
Released on August 21,2021, Donda is Kanye West’s tenth studio album. With the name derived from West’s late mother, Dr Donda C. West, the album is dedicated to his mother.
Kanye West is widely known for popularising concert merchandise and turning them into more than just being a souvenir.
He normalised the idea of concert shirts and merchandise as everyday clothes and incorporated them into street style. For Kanye, concert merch is not just a one-time thing but rather an ornament that can be a part of everyday life.
Having accumulated this vision early on in his career, Kanye West pays utmost care for his merch, just like he does for his music.
Together with Virgil Abloh, who he hired as his creative director in 2007, the two went on to build West’s fashion empire and attended multiple fashion weeks together. It was their creative mindset that put together Kanye’s album Watch the Throne and gave it life.
For his 2013 release Yeezus, Kanye West specifically collaborated with graphic designer Wes Lang, who is known for his works with Metallica, to create a merchandise line that projected skeletons wearing native American head gears and sketches that represented his lyrics.
Although the fashion line was controversial, it sold incredibly well in the market and stood alongside street fashion brands like Obey.
Two years later, Kanye West launched his esteemed fashion line, Yeezy, that primarily focuses on designing basic loungewear in neutral shades.
In 2016, with the release of The Life of Pablo, Kanye intertwined fashion and music by combining the listening sessions with the Yeezy Season 3 presentation in Madison Square Garden.
His religious line faced controversy from Christian fans who got deeply offended by the fashion line that included the Jesus is King merch with phrases like Kanye 1:03 highlighted in bright colours.
Donda’s Successful Concert Merchandise
His latest studio album, Donda, no doubt has a unique fashion element attached to it. Designed by the high-end fashion brand Balenciaga’s Creative Director Demna Gvasalia, the merchandise consists of a Donda listening session long sleeve shirt priced at $100.
The long-sleeved shirt alone brought in a whopping USD 7 million from its sale alone in the stadium merch shop.
The long sleeve shirt comes in different designs, with some having a Mercedes Benz logo, a photograph of West’s late mother Donda or a printed t-shirt with religious iconography.
Every T-shirt has a signature phrase printed on it which reads “Donda 8/5/2021 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Atlanta.” His merch sales made him break the record of the highest-grossing US tour by an artist.
To promote his album Kanye held three live listening parties in Atlanta, Georgia and Chicago. With notable cameos from The Weeknd and Travis Scott, fans filled the stadiums despite the increasing Covid-cases in the country.
Along with hosting a live concert during these unprecedented times, the artist is also under fire for inviting Marilyn Manson and Da Baby to his stage.
Marilyn Manson is currently under criminal investigation for sexual abuse, while Da Baby’s recent homophobic comments have put his career on hold.
In terms of his concert merchandise line, Kanye West is also accused of stealing the idea for the Donda Merchandise from an indie fashion label named Infinity G8ds.
According to the Daily Mail, Kanye West held a meeting with the Infinity G8ds team and even confessed his love for their work.
The fashion brand was shocked when they saw the Donda merchandise. They are reportedly disappointed at the singer and argue that they should have been given creative credit.
