What We Learned From Kanye’s Recent Twitter Spree
Kanye goes on a 3-hour rant about fashion, fame and more!
1 / 26
Tweet Sheet - Kanye logged on to Twitter (January 4) to debunk a fake account for his fashion line and “clear up a few things.” His marathon social media moment started around the wee hours of the morning while he was in his London design studio, and for 3 hours and 91 tweets he bounced over a range of topics, including fashion, education and his next creative goals. He threw in apologies for bad grammar, humor and quotes to ponder by Leonardo da Vinci and George Bernard Shaw. While the entire manifesto made for a good read, here are the Cliff’s Notes to what we learned about the outspoken rapper. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
2 / 26
Everyone’s Been Getting the Name of His Fashion Line Wrong - Rewind: before ‘Ye went on his Twitter binge, he set one record straight the previous day: “The name of the line is Kanye West not DW... The Dw was a design element placed on the invite in homage to my mom : )” (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Photo By Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
3 / 26
He Currently Has No Agent - The next day he disclosed he’s got one less member on his team: “More clarity... I have no agency representing me currently... William Morris was fired after Cara Lewis quit. I love Cara Lewis : )” (Side Note: we also learned Kanye uses smiley faces for the ladies he likes. Cute!) (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
4 / 26
Fashion Is Currently Giving Him Life - So much of what Kanye touches musically turns to gold (well, platinum), but right now it’s fashion that seems to be energizing and motivating his creative process. “I love being back at my fashion office learning and creating. It's so challenging and fun and I'm surrounded by amazing people.” “...you only live once but every time I come to work I feel like I'm starting a second life.” (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
5 / 26
He’s Paying for His Fashion Line Out of Pocket - Nobody’s giving Kanye the big bucks for his women’s fashion efforts, yet. Right now he’s investing in the dream. “You guys might think I have some type of backing for my line but I don't.” “I did the first fashion show out of my own pocket and used the money I made touring to follow my passion.” He also mentioned that he hasn’t bought jewelry or cars because he’s investing his money in his creative efforts. (Photo: Will Ragozzino/Getty Images)
ADVERTISEMENT
6 / 26
He’s Been Trying to Do a Fashion Project for a Minute, But He Was Selective - “I've been working at this for 8 years now…” Woah, stop the track! Who knew he’s been this passionate about trying to design for that long? “…from the first offers to do urban clothing lines that I turned down...” Apparently, he was waiting for the right opportunity because even though he wanted to do something he wasn’t going to do just anything. (Photo: Trago/WireImage)
7 / 26
...He Even Begged to be Put On - “…To begging Bape to do my line and never making any real headway...” Somehow we can’t imagine today’s Kanye begging for anything, but it’s a whole different story when you’re trying to get your foot in the door. (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
8 / 26
He Got Shut Down - He said he had an LA office “that was shut down after the ‘MTV’ moment along with my tour with GAGA.” (Photo: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
9 / 26
He’s Resilient - After the bump in the road that was the Taylor Swift snafu, Kanye said he packed his bags to move to Japan for one month and “designed every night in my room.” His focus must’ve paid off, because he says the opportunities to work in fashion started flowing. “I had this opportunity to intern at Fendi and was also offered a position to Versace which I could not take due to my contract with LV which was for 2 years.” (Photo: Adrienne Battistella/PictureGroup)
10 / 26
He Tried to Get Fashion Experience the Old Fashioned Way - From the looks of it, Kanye put in work. “I moved to Rome after I left Japan and worked at Fendi for 4 months under cover,” he said. “I was there to give ideas for the men's collection.” And there were even more bullet points from his resume: “I snuck to Giuseppe Zanotti Factory still under contract and learned to design woman's shoes for 2 years before my first show in Paris.” (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
ADVERTISEMENT
11 / 26
Even He Had to Realize the Fashion Industry Is Tough to Break Into - "After doing the first LV collection I was sure I would get a second shot to create but was never given the opportunity.” Almost makes you want to throw out an awww, huh? (Photo: WENN.com)“
12 / 26
He Has More to Offer Than the Standard Celebrity/Fashion Brand Collaboration - “I designed a sneaker called the YEEZY with Nike. I'm ‘allowed’ to design 1 pair of sneakers every 2 years. I have more ideas...” (Photo:Walik Goshorn / Retna Ltd.)
13 / 26
Even He Gets Awed by Other People - Sure he’s got a big ego, but Kanye still “Stans” for people he admires … “In Paris I met many great people in design including the master Azzedine Alaia... Azzedine even came by my studio one day : )))” (Aww, super smile!) “This was the greatest feeling to stand in his presence in my embarrassingly small Paris studio in a courtyard opposite Collate.” (Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
14 / 26
His Mother’s Fly Style Is a Big Inspiration - Kanye’s love for stand-out outfits was rooted in watching Mama Donda work. “I remember being 5 years old...and my mother taking me with her shopping at the discount fur spots. She said I would always point to the most expensive furs even as a child LOL.” He also noted, “For the first 16 or 17 years of my life the only thing I knew about woman's clothing was what my Mom would wear,” which included rocking fur and embellished sweaters to pick him up from school. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
15 / 26
He’s Got a Sense of Humor About His Style Picks - Kanye gives a daring range of wardrobe picks, but he knows everyone’s not always feeling it. He teases that some critics would say he doesn’t have taste, tweeting, “....hmmmmm what to wear... here I go again... Yeezy the trend setter or complete fucking fashion victim ... the verdict is still out.” (Photo: Joe Corrigan/Getty Images for Universal Music)
ADVERTISEMENT
16 / 26
He Wants to Use His Fame for Good - “What good is fame and prestige if you can't use it to help people... I want to help by doing what I know how to do best …create.”(Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Photo By Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
17 / 26
He Has Big Dreams of Starting a New Mega-Creative Company - When Kanye said he had more ideas, he wasn’t lying. He envisions a company with a dizzying 22 divisions that will be named DONDA, after his mother. “ I am assembling a team of architects, graphic designers, directors, musicians, producers, AnRs, writers, publicist, social media experts app guys, managers, car designers, clothing designers, DJs, video game designers, publishers, tech guys, lawyers, bankers, nutritionists, doctors, scientists, teachers all with the goal to make products and experiences that people want and can afford.” (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
18 / 26
He’s Accepting Resumes - Although his company idea might be a lofty one, Kanye said he’s trying to speak it into the universe and even invited people to get in touch. “I wanted to put this in the world in hopes that the people who can actually make a difference will stand up and reach out,” he said. “We need as many amazing powerful smart talented wealthy people to be involved... Come get on board... don't just sit there... reach out." He even left a contact email address: “If anyone would like to reach out email us at contactDONDA@gmail.com.” (Photo: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
19 / 26
He Still Hasn’t Let Go of His Disdain for Award Shows - As many times as Kanye’s gone on a rant about being shafted at an award show or acting a fool at one, it’s pretty clear they’re not his favorite place to be and found a way to remind us all of that. “I appreciate having the most nominations at the Grammies but I feel so conflicted by the fact that award shows sometimes are completely... illogical.” He’d rather take them into his own hands and expressed an interest to design the MTV Awards. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/PictureGroup)
20 / 26
Even He Sub-Tweets - Most people who are on Twitter have been guilty of throwing the sub-Tweet: airing someone out for something they did without really dropping their name, but making it clear that they and anyone who was also a part of the situation knows exactly who and what you’re talking about. Kanye was no exception when it came to illustrating when he feels creatively stifled. “I was just discussing becoming the creative director for the Jetson movie and someone on the call yelled out…you should do a Jetsons tour! This just happened a few hours ago. I was very insulted of course because for anyone that's seen the Watch the Throne Tour... Or Coachella or Glow in the Dark or Runaway… you know I have real ideas...” (Photo: Ray Tamarra/Getty Images)
ADVERTISEMENT
21 / 26
Somewhere Along the Way He Realized Eyes Were Glazing Over at His Old Blog - “I used to blog all the time and it was a way to get my opinion out... Dr Dre redesigned headphones and made more impact off of one product,” Kanye practically pouted. Well you can’t hate the player, hate the game. Plus, ‘Ye has always made Twitter awesome with his hilarious comments and moments like this. (Photo: Dario Cantatore/Getty Images)
22 / 26
When He’s in His Zone He Has No Time for Spell Check - For the Grammar Police Twitter followers, he apologized throughout his speech for errors a few times and finally said, “Excuse me... I just get excited at the possibilities... the more excited I get... the more grammatical errors you'll see...” (Photo: Roc-A-Fella)
23 / 26
He Doesn’t Only Think About Superficial Things - Sure he does a lot of design label dropping, but Kanye also cares about other issues like education reform, the economy and the prison system and he has some ideas on how he thinks they can improve. “School systems were designed to turn people into factory workers…Schools should be designed to prep human beings for real life,” he said before suggesting that math programs be dwindled down and kids should be able to use search engines and iPhones on their tests.(Photo: Rob Loud/Getty Images)
24 / 26
He May Hate the Media, But He Still Watches the News - Kanye has lashed out at press over coverage about him, but that doesn’t mean he’s not tuning in to keep up with current events. “The adrenaline is running... I don't know if I can even get to sleep now... From Wall Street to the London riots to Chicago murders..,“ he said.(Photo: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
25 / 26
He’s All About Sharing - The grand finale of Kanye’s speech was a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”(Photo: Julien Hekimian/Getty Images)
