As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But, if you’re Kanye West when life gives you lemons — you sell Yeezys.
And that’s exactly what the singer-turned-fashion designer did over the weekend. However, unlike your typical lemonade stand where the flow of the sugary yellow substance is infinitely free-flowing, West’s makeshift stall catered to a different crowd of consumers: sneakerheads.
Stocked with limited pairs of the Yeezy Boost 700 V2 “Geode” shoes, the pop-up shop took place curbside outside West and wifey Kim Kardashian’s Calabasas estate. The singer solicited the help of his famous familia to manage the juicy stand, including his children North, Saint and Chicago. (Khloe Kardashian and baby True showed up, too).
West’s latest entrepreneurial fete isn’t another one of his outside-of-the-box marketing ploys to push merch — it is a philanthropic effort in partnership with Adidas to give back to the community, as wifey Kim explained on Twitter.
Kim gave her loyal 60.2 million followers the complete 411. “In the continued spirit of bringing people and families together, the brand has selected unexpected locations for the stands to connect with communities throughout the country,” she said.
The reality starlet went on to assure Twitter this wasn’t another marketing gimmick motivated to boost the bottom line: “All proceeds made via the stands will be donated to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.”
More locations of West’s Yeezy lemonade stands will be popping up on social media and across the United States, including in Indianapolis, IN; Missouri, TX; Waterloo, IA; Minneapolis, MN; Alton, IL; West Chester, OH; Belle Fourche, SD; and Cedar Rapids, IA.
