Adidas said Wednesday it plans to sell existing inventory of products designed for the Yeezy collection without using the name, telling reporters on a conference call that the company owns the rights to the designs.
"Let me be clear, we own all the IP, we own all the designs, we own all the versions and new colorways," CFO Harm Ohlmeyer said, according to the Wall Street Journal. "It's our product. We do not own the Yeezy name."
Ohlmeyer told reporters that Adidas is working through options for selling the sneakers in 2023, according to Bloomberg.
The German shoe and sportswear company ended its partnership with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West over his antisemitic comments in interviews and social media. Other brands like Balenciaga and Gap, as well as the talent agency CAA, also cut ties with Ye and he was suspended from both Twitter and Instagram.
Ohlmeyer also told reporters that the profitability of the Yeezy business had been overstated because its costs only included expenses directly related to the products and not central overhead costs borne by the company. He said the company would save "around 300 million euros related to royalties" that they no longer have to pay out to Ye.
"This will help us to compensate the majority of the top and bottom line impact in 2023,” he said, according to The Associated Press.
Last month, Gap, which ended it's contract with Yeezy in September due to a distribution disagreement, announced it was taking additional steps to formally cut ties with Ye by removing any remaining Yeezy Gap product from its stores and shutting down YeezyGap.com amid the rapper's antisemitic comments.
