As we know, Kanye West is no longer close to provocation to talk about him. But the rapper, producer and fashion designer isn’t going with the back of the spoon. Monday evening, during a “secret” fashion show organized in Paris as part of Fashion week to present his new YZY SZN9 line, the long-sleeved T-shirt he wore attracted all eyes and has since caused a lot of talk : it was written on the back, in giant letters, the slogan “White Lives Matter” (White Lives Matter).
Kanye West and Candace Owens wearing “White Lives Matter” shirts at his fashion show in Paris. pic.twitter.com/eJekZ8cGhe
—Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 3, 2022
According to the Anti-Defamation League, an American NGO that fights against anti-Semitism and discrimination, this slogan is a phrase from white supremacists, born in 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which appeared to protest against the police brutality against African Americans. A slogan used since by supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Renaissance Society.
Kanye West, known for his support of former Republican President Donald Trump, was also pictured on Monday evening posing backstage at his parade alongside Candace Owens, a conservative political columnist and Trumpist, also dressed in an ornate T-shirt of the same slogan. A phrase that can be found, according to witnesses, on the back of several outfits in this show from the Yeezy collection with an image of the Pope on the front.
“White Lives Matter” #YZYSZN9. The Pope is on the front. pic.twitter.com/kVJRqeOUhV
—Vanessa Friedman (@VVFriedman) October 3, 2022
Of course, the star, who was also a presidential candidate in the United States in 2020, gave no explanation for this gesture or the message he intends to convey. Accustomed to controversy, Kanye West had already sparked a torrent of reactions in 2018 with a comment about the history of American slavery, assuring that slavery was “a choice“.”We hear about slavery that lasted 400 years. For 400 years? It feels like a choice“, he said, adding: “We are in a mental prison. I like the word prison because that of slaves is too linked to blacks“.
As reported Le Figaro, Anna Wintour, John Galliano, Demna (Balanciaga), Riccardo Tisci (Burberry) and Jean Touitou (APC) were part of the handpicked audience of around sixty people on Monday evening, who attended Kanye’s show organized near the Champs -Elysées and broadcast in livestream, started more than an hour late. The day before, Sunday, Kanye West had marched for Balenciaga.