Kanye West’s Line Yeezy Causes a Stir

Kanye West's Yeezy Season 2 show. Credit Randy Brooke/Getty Images for Kanye West Yeezy

Guests arriving at kanye West's presentation during New York Fashion Week — those, that is, who had successfully elbowed through the camera-wielding crowd — were told that actually, the door they were looking for was several yards to their right. The door they had arrived at was exclusively for celebrities.

Two separate entrances are as good an indicator as any of a fashion week happening, and Mr. West’s second presentation for his Yeezy collection was certainly that. Held in a basement studio in Chelsea, the show was a late addition to the fashion week schedule, causing some scrambling and some complaints from those who were displaced.

Naeem Khan, the evening-wear designer, who also had a noon slot, went on as scheduled. (His show appeared undiminished, despite the competition.) Josh Ostrovksy, better known as the Fat Jew, moved his show of “dad fashion” back a half-hour, emailing out the explanation: “Kanye is a dad. He’s also having a fashion show. I support Kanye and dads, so I adjusted my showtime.” The designer Anne Bowen moved her show to a different date, registering her complaints with Women's Wear Daily.

But Mr. West was always going to draw a crowd, and he did. Kim Kardashian West was there with the couple’s daughter, North; her sisters Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian, and her half-sister Kendall Jenner. (Kylie Jenner, Kendall’s sister, appeared in the show.) Nearby sat Lorde, Seth Meyers, Riccardo Tisci and Michael Strahan; the rappers and musicians Common, 2 Chainz, Pusha T and Miguel; and down a bit farther, Courtney Love, Michael Stipe and Debbie Harry.

“When I hear about New York when it was all these incredible artists coming together — it feels like that,” Common said. (He was wearing a pair of sneakers designed by Mr. West.) He called Mr. West “somebody you’re always looking to, to see where their creative mind is going. He’s a genius.”

When the lights went down (“I can’t see!” wailed the young son of Consequence, a rapper formerly on Mr. West’s label), a man in beige and boots appeared and shouted orders to a group of models. Mr. West worked once again with the artist Vanessa Beecroft on the presentation, which was staged as a choreographed set of military exercises. Four groups of models eventually marched through in Mr. West’s slouchy hoodies, parkas and leggings.

The looks were similar to those he showed at the first Yeezy presentation in February. Though Mr. and Mrs. West have been wearing pieces from the collection recently, they have not yet arrived in stores.