Kanye West for Louis Vuitton Sneakers Preview
by L.A. Ruano, January 9, 2009

After all the hoopla surrounding his collaboration with prestigious fashion house Louis Vuitton, Kanye West unveils the first design of six from his upcoming sneaker collection. Taking a clean cut approach, the heralded Mr. West pushes out a very well executed deck shoe silhouette. Definitely a good sign of things to come. So, without further ado let the comments begin.
Source: Kanye West
Listen these things are hott!! Kanye you did ya thing and honestly i cant wait to see the others. The color is perfect for this type of shoe. I hope there are others. Yeah sum say it looks like vans and yea some say the look like boats but what you gotta understand is the way u rock it is how it all turns out. Like me i know i can freak them on my campus. I also know its gonna cost an arm and a leg. ya get me.
That pretty hott
must haves.
dugg
Great shoe if your an exspensive boat shoe wearn type of Person. still late.
does look like Sperry Top-siders
If it wasnt Kanye & LV and it was a no name brand made to the exact same specs. No one would look twice. I hope the other 5 styles show a little bit more of a creative edge. I think sperry did this, what 10 years ago?
they are nice but nothing groundbreaking. they also look too much like the Vans Zapato del Barco
SPERRYS?
Kanye fell off the horse a long time ago.
His new record is awful, clothing he’s trying to do looks terrible.
He needs to let go of his ego, and sit back for the rest of his life.
Just because Kanye buys a lot of expensive clothes, doesn’t mean he can design it. These are terrible.
boat shoes are alitle over done and who cares everybody is still eating them up same with airforce ones. tell me what hot next? wet slippers, cmon u fools got nothing better to than hate so keep hating maybe we can reinvent the wheel and sink this fucking disgusting hip hop who got what trend and make a huge mut baby of shittier clothes than last year
better off getting the creative recreations. they executed that design alot better
These are soo dope. Better then the air yeezys, yeezy’s are dope, don’t get me wrong. But these will be worth the $1000 if they are gonna be reasonable about it.
wow those would be so much more dope if they had brown and gold (LV color) accents somewhere. whats with the all white? and is that patent leather on the back? ew…im feelin the shape of the back but should be genuine leather. ha im diggin the laces as well…
i was thinking kanye could do something better than this…
Creepers? The soles are so thick, they almost look like creepers. That would be ill! What if Kanye just flipped it and came with some new millenium Black Rock-a-Billy shit!
As far as I’m concerned, he’s so far of the mark, style wise, that at this point, he might as well!
Stupid mullet head, auto tune singing, ill beat making mutha fucka!
well im no expert on fashion well thats only as far as on paper i didnt graduate f.i.t. but i no wuts hot b 4 its even manufactured ya digg n um the 1st calabo with LV is a joke u gotta b kidding me its not even a good look 4 the flagship empire at all i mean i would have came up with a automatic classic a must have like he 1st low leather black prada but the air yeezy trash 2 but the air mc fly back 2 the futures r a better choice 2 call the yeezy 4 sho i have faith that at least 1 out of the 5 LV mite b the truth i hope he has a stylist anyway so wut do u expect u no DUH!!!
looks too much like the visvim boat shoes…
Cool, I like em, surprised theres no crazy colors lol, but they’re cool.
These are dope, i really dont care if its Kanye.
sole too deep. all that junk on the back looks like a growth! otherwise they’re alright but nuthin new. i won’t be breaking my balls over these!
smh
kanye doin waaay 3 much
this is what happens when niggas get to tackle high fashion
they lose they mind and create catastrophes like this
sheeeesh
im guessing retail will be like 700
smh they look like “air force X sperry topsiders”
lol
it’s kind of stupid whenever someone says something of kanye’s sucks you have 500 other hypebeasts going “NUH UH HOMEY UR WRONG STFU UR JUST A HATER”
i think if someone thinks that these shoes are badly designed and could probably be done better by a two year old, respect it! that’s what these comment boxes are for, for someone to either say they like something or they don’t.
anyways, in my opinion, thse are pretty bad. i’d honestly expect these coming out at payless or something, because a. the sole is WAY too chunky for a low-top, chunky soles really only work with hitops b. all white boat shoes don’t really work… c. the back sk8-hi rip off part really doesn’t go
i’m not going to say anything about price because honestly there’s much more that we could be complaining about, like lanvins or dior homme or jil sander or whatever.
or bapes! you don’t see a lot of people commenting about how a $300 air force one knockoff is too expensive…
Nice pair, but what a lack of design…expected some original design’s from Kanye x LV…!!
i think they’re quite beautiful. the laces are great. the heel is something you don’t see on mens sneakers. there are a few other details i cant even make out. im sure they played around with a few color ways too so its going to be dope. if i can get my shit together and maybe have some extra money lying around by the time they come out, ill get them.
I agree with wokmaker…this shit aint original..and the simple fact that this one picture has so much hype that it gets 131 comments in a day is a damn travesty…people jus cuhz kanye makes it/wears it dont make it tight…please lets try some originality…cuhz at the end of the day if you go out and by the air yeezy’s or these overpriced LV shoes…you jus gonna look like you wanna be kanye lmao
Mums.The.Word
“Life Is Change,Growth Is Optional,Choose Wisely”
Mr.LV!
Some LV Sperrys basically…..they aite
FRESH!
these go to hard
this shoe has class for u fuckers that are hating on it can fuck off bc this shoe is fucking killin
in regards to this shoe…
can you say rip off the BBC Deck Shoe and Converse Sea Star Ox??
Damn yall some extreme haters. The show is alright. Just cuz kanye made it yall hating on it. Stop the nonsense!
Enough with the “Step up your game”, “You guys don’t have style” bullshit. Just because there is an LV monogram slapped on the shoe and they cost a couple bills (i’m guessing) doesn’t mean it’s some super fashionable shoe. Like I said before, aside from not liking Kanye i’m not a fan of the shoe. The sole looks like something you’d see on AF1’s (sneakers in general) and everythng else looks like something Sperry would make (not hatin on Sperry of course), it just doesn’t click together.
a boat shoe is a boat shoe no matter what label you put on it, conscious consumers are not going to want these but there are plenty of fools that will, but as an artist i can see the the obstacle, these shoes just look like kanye painted in a coloring book with expensive oil paint. when in a position of complete opportunity this is not how you take advantage of it……….yet still i’m eager to see whats next
i love em!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…..i wonder how much they run for?
men..fresh..as it izzzz,hey..dont tripp about these shoes..dere clean classics man..and..if u didnt noticed…air yeezy’z were good cuz..he made it as a hype shoes with his dope album “homecoming” but for these shoes they good to go for his album “808’s and heartbreak” basically it could possibly go with the shoes..
Can’t believe LV would do a collabo with a hip hop artist. Not a good look for LV but a GREAT look for Kanye. Its beautiful to see an artist make it with LV but it kind of muddies the water for LV. THey are supposed to be untouchable. First Pharell now Kanye. Who next Lil Wayne?
FUCK THE BOAT SHOE… WE DONT NEED ANOTHER BOAT SHOE KANYE…. CUM ON YEEZZYY, YES WE DO WANT SUMTHIN NICE AND SIMPLE TO WEAR BUT A FUCKIN BOAT SHOE FUCK YOU NO VASALINE…LOL.. ID WEAR THEM THO ,I JST THOUGHT THEYD PUT MORE THOUGHT INTO THESE SHOE….
i think its dope real classy, polo came out with a similar design
Man Down code 10!
caz… Shut the fuck up. You obviously don’t know how to dress! Air forces over these?! You gotta’ be fuckin’ kidding me. Step your game up fags. These shits are on another level. Lames wouldn’t understand.
I’ve rocked with Louis for a minute. The past couple of years I’ve found their shoe game (sneaker game to be more specific) to be disappointing. Maybe they thought Kanye would revitalize that work but from the looks of these…Nope.
looks like his design sense is about as acute as his musical abilities. not surprised. money makes money.
“arrogant son of a bitch, none of us is rich”
all you kanye followers can keep waddling up and down shopping streets scoping each other while he licks his thumb counting your dollars that pay for his wack ass music, cause you sure as hell ain’t buying these fucking shoes.
what happened to checking out chicks? now you got dudes scoping other dudes gear. GAY
Damn, I can see you haters are ready to go in ‘09.
Its a clean shoe, just because Kanye designed it doesn’t make it whack.
Shit is sick
I like how simple it is.
I wanna see the other 5 though.
they are just plain, i guess, they are ok, though…
corny
God, I hate Kanye West ever since he threw a bitch fit at the VMA’s when Brittney Spears beat him for some award and he was on the verge of tears and talking trash. All that aside, shoes aren’t looking too hot.
calm down kiddies…. its only a shoe. some of you idiots are acting as if he killed a guy. pft… grow up
idk they look ok, but there are better shoes out there for cheaper. the quality im sure will be nice but the design and execution of colors is mediocre but then again these shoes might be released in other colors. dropping hundreds of $$’s on all whites is pointless to me when no matter what those are enventually gonna get dirty and scuffed and when they do i wish i can be there to take a pic of that expression on your face because im sure it will be priceless. but i see where is going with this business wise its kinda genious. air yeezys for the sneakerheads and these lv’s for the sophisticated. so either way when its all said and done both shoes will be bought and dollar bills will be made by nike, kanye (along with when pastelle drops), & lv becuase of their names, their reps, & their image that goes along with buying their products. and for people saying why doesnt kanye work on his music? nobody is buying music when you can torrent an album so he is on the design tip right now. 09 is gonna be interesting in so many ways its only jan and look at all this hype.
victor your a fag. those shoes are plain as fk & have already been done by several other brands.
damn Victor, lets us know how Kanye’s nuts smell…
damn, v, you straight said it. you got kaws slapping his x logo on some jeans and then the hype gets crazy when i think them jeans look like crap. the stars of streetwear today just don’t cut it anymore because they get a logo and slap in on everything. streetwear being original? not anymore, since it’s all about guns, taking common pop culture logos and defacing them, defacing bush, politics, and mainstream. yeah, and it’s those streetwear brands that want to go mainstream by making sure everyone knows which celebrities wear their brands. hey streetwear brands, real original and such a great way to keeping your “image” and “philosophy” unique. collabs are so played out. you get 1 logo and another logo and you mash them up and put some sort of statement under the mashed up logo. GREAT! real original! nike lost all motivation since they released all crap the past 4 months, yet they want to continue with those hybrid projects because it makes $$$. BOTTOM LINE-THERE IS NO MORE ORIGINALITY IN STREETWEAR; THUS STREETWEAR IS NOW A PARODY OF ITS OWN SELF.
.streetwear has lost it…all ads with streetwear brands have some sort of gun in them…when im sure most streetwear purchasers with the extremely limited items have never held a gun in his/her life…all streetwear “boutiques” carry the same $hit brands…the cuts are awful…just really baggy…it’s all hype…streetwear was good 10 years ago…but now? you see a brand doing something $hitty and it’s a straight cop because its THAT brand that did it…seriously…there’s a lot of garbage brands out there
Not bad, I’m looking forward to see what direction Mr. West is going to take with the other designed shoes/sneakers
Victor,
Your a low life who has nothing better to do than to run his mouth over a comment section. You are extremely shallow to think that you are so much better than the rest of us here at hypebeast. I really hope you buy these kicks with every last quarter in your piggy bank and scuff them within the first 5 min of wearing them. Ultimately I hope you come back down to earth and realize that the only thing different about yourself, is your lack of intelligence and respect for the other members of this community.
On some real shit. Months ago Kanye expressed interest in doing an internship with the likes of LV or Raf Simmons. This is obvious in the design of this shoe. A work in progress at best, not to say that someday this intern may have good work to put out. They obviously see that because of his name the majority will buy this shoe. I know plenty of ballers that buy LV just because its LV. Once they get wind of LVxKanye, its sold out. Victor, I’m sorry you feel that way but if you dont think these and Pastelle will be bootleged immediately then your just numb. Everybody,except educated consumers, will be wearing it rich or poor, sorry buddy.
kanye didn’t really design these shoes, I DID!
this it come with autotune?
you guys are all such fucking fags, it’s pathetic.
Victor, just by reading that comment everone can tell you’re incredibly broke. If you were wealthy you would have went to school and learned to spell.
the shoes fucking suck.
wow probably the first lofers ill cop
they will look hot in the street of Amsterdam!
Cant wait till he drops different colorways and the other designed shoes…
its a travesty that kids today have this excuse for hip hop but its even worse
that the youth accept it and jock it to death. true story.
those r flat out UGLY…..nd im one ov hiz biggest FANS…..they need to head bak to da drawing board on dat 1
Price tage please im ready 2 cop
HONESTLY!!!!! ALL YALL ARE HATERS these shoes is super to me and others who like if u doint like dont get them half of yous cant afford them anyway !!!!!! i read thru half of you cheap ass mother fuckers comments and they alll said pretty much the same thing oh they to expenvise only one dude on here was illyy with the comment when he was talkin about wearing them in the summer with no socks etc you dudes arent fashion forward and Yall dont know shit about fashion !!!!! these shits is dope end of fuckin story and i hope pastelle jackets are like fucking 900.00 and up so you bums cant get it
unleash thy saddle from kanye’s nuts sack.
Stick to making music Kanye, this looks awful!!
Just buy a normal boat-shoe en some nice AF1’s, instead of this overhyped/bad designed crap!
Super authentic foreskin heel
LOOKS LIKE SPERRY’S MATED WITH AIR FORCES, AND PRODUCED THIS. THIS AINT THAT DOPE, HOW MANY BOAT SHOES HAVE WE ALREADY SEEN!?
IF I WAS DESIGNING FOR LOUIE V I WOULDNT WASTE MY DAMN TIME MASHING UP OLDER PRODUCTS!
YAWN YE YAWN!
CHNIGATE..muy expenS may B me an my HYNAS will cop a pair to throw at fools
someone’s gonna buy them
it looks like a boat shoe you could dunk in…lol
tight, like vans but more edge
Probably only availabe @ Colette and Japan too. Wouldn’t suprise me.
He’s from Chicago. Other than Jordan, what else has come from that 3rd rate city.
Jabroni Drive. If you live on that street, you will buy these. Kook-A-Thon 2009. Start skateboarding you little do-nothings.
you are all D riders….. so sad
Bunk. What the is the stuff on the back of the shoe?
mmm that’s purty slick yo but ima wait up for other colorways.
cuz an all white shoe might change my mind once i see the other colorways.
if the other colorways dont look nice im probably not gonna cop these XD
other than that slick variation of the boat shoe
i[’ve been collecting cans,bottles and scrap metal to buy these and the air yeezys…
they kinda look like boat shoes fused with sperrys..not sure how i feel about these ones so im happy with savin a few hundred
i could save some money and just buy me some all white VANS…
or hit up canal st.
It looks a little too ordinary. It looks good but it is not exciting enough. We are expecting more from him.
Decent over all, but It’s still the best thing he’s been a part of since Late Registration.
You will all get your strappy highs & desert boots… They are a part of the collection… Trust!
nice but the look like my converse boat shoes
i would not pay for those but they hot
this is safe and ready for the masses. this is like an expensive GAP product.
who the _ _ _ _ is dan and what the _ _ _ _ is he talking about? That shoe is dope!
In vegas we call boat shoes ya-da-da-yatchs!
I fucks with these in the summer with no socks no doubt.
& LV kicks are $600 & up so start saving your pennies..
Always need a nice pair of whites in july but scuff them & DIE!
I want to peep the other colorways.
Im not enjoying that hi-end companies are taking classic elements from SKATE Style and hybriding the style to be some jenky version for $600 dollars. Back to the drawing boards ladies and gents at LV. Someone needs to explain that LVs, when pruchased, is to be treated as HI Fashion not a pair of VANS crossed with BOAT SHOES.
SHUT THAT ASS UP….and now
i like hoe most are hatin ye, who gives a fucc about his musical abilities when it comes ta designing a shoe? but ay thas my opinion. if a nigga had tha loot id cop. =]
SHU
I knew of these a LONG WHILE ago; I’ve already seen the other of the 6, and they look reallly good. These are just simple and a small teaser for the colorways to come.
SPERRY’S did it first……C’mon! I’ll take Sperry’s over these any day!
graphite damier print to match my wallet would be nice… you know it’s gonna cost a grip.
definitely stick to my dunks and am1s
FIRE ALL WHITE BRING THE CLASS ALWAYS SUMIN NEW
nice…but if I am gonna spend high end doh on a supposed innovative rendition, ill stick to Visvim and their philosophies.
Nah, not as good as the BBC ones. In the flesh those were real nice.
These are not That! bad, but it’s LV so it’ll be massively overpriced. !
simple
laughable collab. whatever happened to being a student of fashion and not pushing out something that was not top notch.
agree with the first guy…but still cant argue,..props for the loui V.
…it’s a white boat shoe.
Surly the whole point of colaborations is to create an item that could not have been designed by one of the entities alone.
cant be mad! would i cop? DEFinitely NOT! shit is too expensive… we’re in a recession!!! and all these kids acting like fashionistas and judging shoes (colorways, etc… LMAO) when they only have 10-20 pairs themselves make me sick. or how about those cats who act like they can even afford LV shiz knowin they work at dairy queen?!?!! ridiculous! go to ur lil midwest malls and hit up footlocker!!
Nice Boat, alot better them the BBC one’s.
Sebago Dockside = Best boat shoe ever
Ew, ew, ew. Fuck kanye, he’s out. His newest album is whack, he is whack and these shoes…need I say more? Laces with tassles? Fat-ass heel? Come on man, get your shit back together. He’s losin’ it.
pretty sure i got these at the vans store last week.
i would rather buy common projects than those.
are you fucking serious? this is what hes making? i might as well buy a pair of all white authentics. save me about $500.
Kanye always killing the game with something new!!! too sick!
These are straight. Nothin new. Like some sperry’s with a thick sole. I’m not a thick sole typa guy (I prefer dunks over forces). The name is what its all about with these. I don’t see anyone lining up for a pair of top siders.
Those are fresh for boaters.. The detail is nice!
These are hideous.
These are about as bad as Kanye trying to sing without auto tune. NO wait.. with auto tune.. really with or without auto tune..
This is ridiculous. I’m sure many Kanye fans would pick these up.. but I’m sure that if he wasn’t backing this shoe.. they wouldn’t even get a second look..
The sole is UBER thick, what the hell is that wing thing on the back? Have you people lost your minds? Honestly, who is going to buy these. Can the average Kanye West fan even afford Louis Vuitton shoes? Even then, who is going to front the cash for LV shoes in white and rick scuffing them up?
Get real. This is a pathetic shot at your wallets for barely anything in return.
This comment will be deleted by a mod, but for those of you who actually read it before that happens. Come on.
ILL KICKS!!! I HOPE FOR A MORE HIGH TOP SNEAKER OR EVEN A DESERT BOOT… KANYE IS INSANE WIT THE CREATION$$$!!!
Weak…. Not that cool. I was hoping for more
sole is way to thick too
The Air Yeezy’s look better.
Kanye should be working on his mc’ing skillz and not his fashion sense, lol…
this is a air force one boat shoe.
come on kanye. you keep hyping up straps yet you lack them in your designs?
well… louis vuitton is paying him more money than any of us will probably see…so it’s hard to judge his cloathing choice when he can support an extremely comfortable lifestyle from it.
jus a sooped up boat shoe…nuthin special
I love these
expensive cheap- just like kanye wack. the time that he spends posing with his gear and defending his wackness, would be much better spent on his “music”
Its cool for Yeezy but for the streets its a little bit whatever.
ocean liners on your feets!!!!
by the way kanye doesn’t even dress that well he is just expensive where is the style
… not over my Air Force 1s….
Its more intresting now.. that i’ve read all above comments.. but im still waiting for Nikes ” Air Yeezy” and some more unique color ways in this..
what is so special about this shoes i got some vans boat shoe that look like this LV once again it the hype wow
DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN, I LOOK BEAUTIFUL!
creative recqish …
the laces are insane, would definitely rock these but I’m sure they will be extremely over priced.
I like his NIke’s better
Nice boat shoe
back is ugly as fuck
Clean
Big surprise, a pair of Sperrys with tassels…
way to go Kanye, this was almost as original as your LV ALICE pack, and terrible album!
i think it looks decent…i would wear them but let get some solid colors going…like all blue or red
It’s funny to see all these boat shoes from a variety of sources, when I was reading a recent GQ article mentioning that wearing boat shoes on the street is rather ironic, seeing as most of those with boat (deck) shoes on have never set foot on or near a boat. Even funnier are those who try to pass deck shoes off as semi-formal wear when it’s about as dressed up as a driver shoe.
once again ….. not to impressed
The fundamentals of these shoes are dope. Think about the shoe as a mash up of 4 trends. It has every element that’s in right now with the elite contemporary shoe buyer. It has the backing of a hiking inspired ankle/heel support. The trim of a loafer, the silhouette of a vans authentic, and the styling of a top-sider. Its taking all the distinct elements that define all of these classic shoes and combining them. Smart, and well executed! Good job Mr. West.
I like these a lot, they’re clean
As far as the Yeezys go, no thanks.
Great!! Another boat shoe….
BEAUTIFUL. AND EXPENISVE
These are dope. I KNOW he will be comin with some hot colors. Sure he will try to incorporate the pastels into that in some way, or maybe the bear?
Guess we will see. Yeezy!!!!!!!
high end boat shoes . save urself a few hundred dollars and get vans they prett much the same .
yeezy !
Its DEFINITELY a step up from the Air Yeezy. Im guessing youll see more dudes rocking the Air’s over these though due to the price point and hype. It should be interesting to see the other 5 designs from him and LV. What happened to his Pastelle line? The pieces ive seen so far are not hot at all. I hope this collab with LV will help step up his design game. I keep seeing all of these Kanye projects but they never hit the stores. the last time I saw the Air Yeezy DJ AA was rocking them and they looked so ridiculous but still no release date. All this HYPE and no final product.
I LIKE, it reminds me of those visvim boat shoes that came out a year or two ago (if not longer)
Kanye makes all my wardrobe decisions for me!! Word.
first
uh I got some Louis Vuitton stuff but these shoes need to be released in black and gray too
First- HOT I wonder what the other 5 look like.
I dont like it, the air ye’s are dope, these are not.
First - HOT!
DOPE DOPE DOPE! What organ will i have to donate for these?
They kind of look like an air force one. Definitely wearable. I hope he comes with the ill colors.
Decent Idea…bad execution.