Kanye West has credited Pharrell Williams with inspiring him to "break the mould" when it comes to clothes.
The rapper and Yeezy designer, who is well known for pushing boundaries in both the fashion and music worlds, has opened up about his personal style in a new interview for i-D magazine and revealed that it was his close friend and collaborator, Pharrell, who motivated him to dare to be different.
"I think one of the things that you, Pharrell, inspired in me was this fearlessness to break the mould," Kanye explained in a chat with the star for the Faith in Chaos Issue of the publication. "You're the inspiration. Before I wore a pink polo, you were wearing a pink polo... You broke down the doors in fashion for us. Going out to Paris, you had this elegance, it's not something that even can be learnt.
"Then to be the first guy to have a skateboard on the cover of The Source, for example. These moments, where we had to break out and just do something completely different, that basically has inspired an entire generation."
Kanye is no stranger to the world of fashion, having partnered with the team at German sportswear giant Adidas to launch the first Yeezy line in 2015. He has since enjoyed success with the Yeezy Boost sneakers and utilitarian apparel.
And the Stronger hitmaker has been keeping busy during the Covid-19 pandemic by working on his highly-anticipated Yeezy Foam Runner, which is set to be released later this month.
"That's exactly what we're doing now, sitting here in Wyoming figuring out how to do manufacturing during Covid," the 43-year-old shared. "The Foam Runners we're coming out with in June are our first American manufactured items and we gotta figure out how to do localised manufacturing. But it's more of an approach than a description. Everything, whether that's a time in history or a genre of music or a style of clothing is just a different approach to getting things done."