Air Yeezy The Nike Air Yeezy was developed from 2007 to 2009 by rapper Kanye West, Nike Creative Director Mark Smith and later Nathan Van Hook. Kanye has spoken very highly of Smith as both a collaborator and designer. Smith has said the same of Kanye, stating that he is "a truly creative talent" and a "natural designer." The design process for the Nike Air Yeezy was long and features dozens of sample colorways and silhouettes. Inspiration behind the line notably include the Air Tech Challenge II, Jordan III and IV. The early prototype of the
Air Yeezy had many features that greatly differ from the release version of the shoe. For instance, the midsole and outsole featured what the shoe's creators referred to as "Death Star" tooling, named for the large spherical shape on the back half of the midsole. The outsole also featured the "Y-print" that was used on the
toe box of the three release versions. Also, on the very early prototypes, the shoe used LED lights implanted in the outsole, but after issues with low battery life and cost evaluation, production staff at Nike came to the conclusion that
phosphorescent rubber would be used in place of the
LED lights. While several color and wear test samples of the Nike Air Yeezy were made, some are more widely known and discussed than others. West wore an all black suede pair during his 2008 Grammy Awards performance of "
Stronger" and "
Hey Mama." Up until after his performance, the public was unaware that a collaboration between Nike and Kanye West was in the works. This sample was later sold via an online charity auction to benefit the patients of the Doernbecher Children's Hospital alongside an unreleased prototype of the Nike Air Yeezy featuring the tooling used on the popular Air Jordan VI.
Air Yeezy II Anticipation around the release of the Nike Air Yeezy 2 started after a Complex Magazine interview with Mark Smith and Kanye West about designing the Nike Air Yeezy, wherein Kanye stated that there were several designs left over from the Air Yeezy design process that could eventually become the Nike Air Yeezy 2. Despite this statement, none of these designs were used for the Air Yeezy 2, and instead, Nathan VanHook sat down with Kanye to design the Yeezy 2. The shoe features much more of an animalistic design inspiration than the original Air Yeezy, sporting a ridged, reptile inspired heel counter and a snake skin inspired design on the quarters. The shoe, like the original Air Yeezy, borrows tooling from other Nike models. The Air Yeezy 2 borrows its sole unit from the popular Nike Air Tech Challenge II tennis model. The shoe also features several references to Egyptian culture, featuring depictions of the god Horus on the tongue and insole, and using Egyptian hieroglyphics that spell out "YZY" under the strap. The shoe was released on June 9, 2012. While it had a retail price of $245, preorder bids on
eBay reached as high as $90,000. The Air Yeezy II was available in two colors, platinum and black,{{cite web|last=Hasan |first=Heba |url=https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/06/08/kanye-wests-245-air-yeezy-ii-sneakers-sell-online-for-90000/|title=Kanye West's $245 Air Yeezy II Sneakers Sell Online for $90,000 ==Record sale==