Kanye West's fashion has been getting attention for all the wrong reasons. His Sunday Service performance at Coachella was another comeback attempt after the year of Trump, but it was thwarted thanks to the backlash he faced from extravagantly priced merchandise bearing phrases like "Holy Spirit." 50 Cent, as well known in hip-hop for his trolling as his rap, blasted Kanye in April for wearing a set of clothes which included a bizarre stocking-shaped Yeezy prototype. It's only gotten worse—on Monday, Kanye West celebrated Mother's Day with the release of a new sweatshirt. It reads "Beautiful Mother's Day <3" on the front and "i <3 my mom!" on the back.
The sweatshirt is not exactly a left turn for Kanye West's clothing. The designs have always embraced (or stolen) the ugly, the scruffy, and the evil for its designs. These subversions are the lifeblood of the brand, so nothing is more Kanye than a googly-lettered sweatshirt with dysfunctional kerning that looks like it was fished from a dumpster behind an abandoned flea market. Still, like most things Kanye, our patience with his antics has wained to a historic low. With this $165 sweatshirt, the flimsiness of the art beneath is easier than ever to see.
