Even if fans can’t afford to dress like Kanye, they can toss on some merch to get the YEEZY look. At the ticketed listening party held last night in Atlanta (livestreamed by Apple) to premiere new album DONDA, Yeezy’s latest merch was nearly as much of an event as the unreleased tunes. If the sandy beige tees look like classic ‘Ye, it’s because they kinda are, and attendees went wild for them.
First revealed by eager event guests on Reddit and Twitter, the merch table apparently only had a single piece on display: an earthy long-sleeved T-shirt laden with Mercedes-Benz‘s logo on the front and what appears to be a childhood image of Kanye’s mother, Donda West, on the rear. Though it wasn’t snapped by any of the attendees, there’s also an accompanying DONDA poster.
new merch from Kanye's event tonight in Atlanta
Donda longsleeve was $120 and sold out fast ppl are already reselling them inside the stadium for $220+ pic.twitter.com/X207xMf1RH
— Robert Martin (@Brotractor) July 22, 2021
If you weren’t there, don’t fret: nearly every size of the shirt is available on eBay and other resale sites for vastly inflated prices. Now, whether or not people are paying those prices is anyone’s guess, but at least a few have been bid up over a hundred dollars.
Retail on the T-shirt was reportedly $120, though rumors were buzzing that they were initially intended to be free to seatholders. Before you get up in arms over Kanye’s stinginess, though, sharp-eyed Redditors noticed that merch payments went to DreamChasers Atlanta. It’s not entirely clear, but perhaps ‘Ye was donating his merch profits to charity.
Close up look at the Donda merch. pic.twitter.com/XMkhtFeJrZ
— daniel (@childlikekid) July 22, 2021
It’s also worth noting the similarity between the new tee and an old piece of merch designed for Kanye’s College Dropout. I say “similarity,” singular, because they really only have one thing in common: an unmistakable Mercedes-Benz logo. Kanye is famously a big Mercedes head, having gifted Kim plenty of the company’s pricey cars and celebrated Maybachs fairly frequently in his career.
Very very rare College Dropout merch. Approved by Kanye, but only a small number were ever printed up. Shout out Enstrumental. pic.twitter.com/XoN4oCCuvB
— Andrew Barber (@fakeshoredrive) July 21, 2021
All that being said, DONDA‘s Mercedes-Benz reference has little to do with the cars: it’s simply a nod to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium where the listening party was held. Also, no word on the “DONDA”-branded jersey that Kanye sported himself but I wouldn’t be surprised if more goods drop to coincide with DONDA‘s eventual release.
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