Kanye West, “King Of Shoes,” Is Responsible For The Shoe Of The Year

Kanye West's Yeezy Season 2 showing at New York Fashion Week last month drew some very scathing reviews, but his Adidas Yeezy Boost kicks have undoubtedly been a hotly coveted hit. To wit: Footwear News will bestow West with the "Shoe of the Year" award on December 2 — it has already crowned him "King of Shoes." "The sneaker releases dominated the market in 2015 as demand for the product crashed servers, sparked extraordinary resale value, and created a need for mob control in stores," the Footwear News wrote in an announcement Friday. The shoe-obsessed industry trade publication singled out the Yeezy Boost 350 as an especially hot version of the sneakers. That particular style, priced at $200, sold out in 12 minutes when it went on sale on June 27, and pairs were going for up to $10K on eBay. Yeah, that seems like a scenario that would only happen to a shoe-of-the-year worthy pair of kicks. West certainly knows how to take advantage of a big awards show as a forum for drumming up near-hysteria over his footwear forays. He caused a bit of a conniption fit at the Grammys in February by debuting the Yeezy 750s (the fact that he performed in the sneaks that evening really helped put the Boosts on prime view). At the MTV VMAs in August, West rolled up in a never-before-seen beige iteration of the Boost 350s, which will hit stories (and, obviously, sell out instantaneously) around the holidays. The last thing West's ego probably needs is to be called the king of anything, but people can't get enough of those Yeezy Boosts, and if the shoe fits...