When Kanye West offers you a job, you take it. The rapper turned designer recently made a huge addition to his Yeezy team, recruiting Steven Smith, a well-tenured footwear designer who's spent time at Adidas, Fila, Reebok, and Nike. Smith's résumé includes important designs like the Reebok Insta Pump Fury, the Air Max 2009, and the New Balance 574.
Smith told Sole Collector that West personally reached out to him with the employment opportunity.
"Kanye cold called me and asked if I would come design with him. He had Adidas track me down," Smith said in an interview.
Smith, who says he was hired by West three months ago, works directly for the Yeezy team, and not for Adidas. While he lives in Portland, Oregon, he's been commuting back and forth to Calabasas, California where West currently lives for his Yeezy work.
Smith was tight-lipped about what sort of shoes he's working on in his new role with the Yeezy team, but did mention that they'll have Boost in them. Boost is of course a proprietary Adidas cushioning system, so it's safe to assume this veteran designer will have some level of input on West's wildly popular Adidas Yeezy Boost line.
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