Source: Jeff Kravitz / Getty
Kanye West’s many avenues of creativity have garnered him tons of success, but sometimes he doesn’t follow through.
West was always into clothing, and his first imprint into the world was dubbed Pastelle, which was formulated with the help of Virgil Abloh and Don C. And with people like Dior artistic director Kim Jones signed on as a consultant, A Bathing Ape handling distribution, and KAWS creating a logo, the hype was astronomical. After the Chicagoan rocked the jacket to perform his 808s & Heartbreak hit Heartless at the 2008 American Music Awards.
However, the clothing line never came to fruition, making the iconic varsity jacket seen in the wild coveted by West fans.
“I was pretty hyped for the Pastelle line,” Ben Baller told Complex of the lost brand. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘Wow, this is fucking amazing.’ It was a cross between that real golden era of Polo, a simpler A Bathing Ape, and a little bit of A.P.C. If you put all three together, that was what it was like.”
While the cobalt blue jacket won’t see an official release, a size medium one was dug up from the archives and is up for sale on Justin Reed’s consignment shop, which boasts “an expertly curated selection of art, clothing, and accessories with a focus on rare, limited-edition collaborations, and exceptional vintage.”
The pre-woned and gently worn jacket was sold for a cool $10,000 and might be the only item in an otherwise forgotten collection to see the light of day.
Oftentimes, West reveals release dates for albums that come out months later or are scrapped altogether. Other times he makes promises about his other passions that fall to the wayside– fashion. Ye has been dominating the streetwear fashion industry with the help of Gap and adidas, but fans will always remember when he was supposed to debut Pastelle over 10 years ago.
