“The World Under One Roof”: An Oral History of the Yeezy Season 3 Show

On Feb. 11, 2016, Kanye West held the worlds of music and fashion in the palm of his hand, for an audience of roughly 20,000 inside Madison Square Garden. More than just a listening session for The Life of Pablo, his seventh album, he staged the show for the third collection of his Yeezy Season label with Adidas, with supermodels, hip-hop artists, and the biggest celebrities on the planet in tow. And unlike the typical listening parties and runway shows, this wasn’t industry-only; the general public got to attend, via tickets that were sold for between $50 and $135 or given away by Adidas. If you couldn’t get into the Garden, Tidal and AMC theaters around the country live-streamed the event, so the masses could watch Kanye go “one-on-no-one” at MSG.

Ten years on, the moment is a time capsule of Ye operating at the peak of his power and influence. He was coming off of the experimental cult classic Yeezus in 2013 and already in full swing with his Adidas partnership, which up to that point had produced two fashion shows and culture-shifting sneakers like the 350. Combining both endeavors made for a first-of-its-kind presentation.

The intermingling of hip-hop and the luxury industry has become old hat. Travis Scott designed runway collections for Dior. Pharrell is the creative director of Louis Vuitton Men’s. A$AP Rocky has shown AWGE runway shows in Paris, and Skepta’s Mains has shown during London Fashion Week. At the time, Yeezy Season 3 at MSG was revolutionary. It pushed the relationship between hip-hop and runway fashion into uncharted territory.

Recently, we have seen other superstars replicate the large-scale arena listening model: Billie Eilish did it in 2024 at the Barclays Center and Kia Forum for her album Hit Me Hard and Soft. That same year, Tyler, the Creator held events in various cities across the country to debut Chromakopia. In 2025, Rosalía played her album LUX in Barcelona, in a very performance-art type context.

To reflect on the 10th anniversary, we spoke to some of the key figures and attendants from the Yeezy Season 3 and Life of Pablo listening experience to learn more about how it all came together and discuss its lasting impact.

THE VOICES

The Planning

Kanye West signed an endorsement deal with Adidas in November 2013. On Feb. 12, 2015, he held his first fashion show for Yeezy in New York City. The Yeezy Season One show introduced the minimal, earth-toned aesthetic that would define Ye’s clothing line for years to come. It was also the first time the world heard a sample of The Life of Pablo. A loop of “Wolves,” featuring vocals from Vic Mensa and Sia, accompanied the presentation. On Sept. 16, 2015, Ye hosted Yeezy Season Two. The approach was nearly identical to Season One. This time, the Pablo track “Fade,” featuring Post Malone and Ty Dolla $ign, played over the speakers.

For Yeezy Season 3, Ye, the Yeezy team, and Adidas set their sights on an even bigger moment on the New York Fashion Week calendar. The first-of-its-kind show, hosted in tandem with a listening event for The Life of Pablo. The album name was officially changed to The Life of Pablo just one night prior to the event. Previous titles included So Help Me God, Swish, and Waves. The spectacle took place at Madison Square Garden.

Tracey Mills, Yeezy consultant and friend of Ye: I remember when he said he wanted to do Madison Square Garden. I don't remember the date, but I just remember thinking, "Damn, Madison Square, a fashion show?" Then he was like, "Yeah, and then I'm going to debut the music.”

Steven Victor, then-COO of G.O.O.D. Music: He was talking about it, but at the time I didn't realize the magnitude of him doing a listening show at MSG. I'm thinking he's just going to do a concert. The one thing about Kanye is, if he's thinking something, it's possible. Most of the things that don't happen in his world are not because they couldn't happen, it's just maybe he changed his mind.

Jon Wexler, then-Global Vice President of Entertainment and Influencer Marketing at Adidas: Throughout that entire period, I was probably one of the closest in proximity to [Ye], the work, the teams, et cetera, along with Rachel Muscat, Nic Galway, and their respective teams that were also touching products. And then Brian Foresta and other members of the design crew that were so critical to everything that went down once Kanye had a vision for a product.

Heron Preston, member of the DONDA Design Studio creative team: It made a lot of sense coming from Ye. His ideas were always so grandiose.

Jon Wexler: When Kanye came to Portland to see the final sample of the [Adidas Yeezy] 750, he sat with me and Nic Galway in the cafeteria at the headquarters of Portland and he said for the launch of this shoe, “Let’s rent Barclays.” He walked us through an elevated version of the version that ultimately was done for Season 3 as a “dream big” concept.

It was very much modeled after the people he emulated, the Steve Jobs of the world. He wanted to have drones involved and all this stuff. And I turned to him at that moment and I said, "Well, that's where the All-Star Game is so we won't be able to use the real estate." And he said, "Okay, let's put a pin in the idea." For Season 3, we dusted off the blueprint and MSG was born. So, I guess you could say the seeds were planted in September 2014 and then sprouted in February 2016.

Heron Preston: Anything was possible working with Ye. That’s what he made us believe. I think what stood out for me was the large number of extras that had to be casted and styled. Renelou [Padora] had to style all of them. It was mad.

Jon Wexler: Renelou Padora, on Kanye's team, was responsible for getting all of the product that the extras wore, working with our teams to organize it all, and making sure it was dyed to the appropriate level.

Joe Perez, then-art director of DONDA Design Studio: Kanye was always with the school of, “How do we outdo the last time?”

Steven Victor: He's not skipping steps. He's doing all of it. “Oh, fuck all that shit. I want to do it tomorrow.” He's like, “I want to do it tomorrow. What do we need to do to get it done?”

Joe Perez: I remember not sleeping a lot, especially when we got to New York. I literally stayed up three days in a row. We didn't know what the merchandise was going to look like up until about 24 hours away from the event. We had that made extremely last minute. It was being delivered as the doors were opening. I never knew you could turn around merchandise at that quantity, that quickly.

Cali DeWitt, artist: There was no lead-up really. I think he called me a week before. This would prove to be a longer lead-up time than usual with him.

Steven Victor: Most people don't know their fucking head from their hand. In those moments, [Ye] is very aware of everything that's going on now. Song seven, this ain't the right mix. At the same time, he's fixing a shirt and saying how he wants the stage to be. He’s using all of his mind. He's the Limitless guy.

Amina Blue, model: Before Yeezy Season One came out, I went for the casting and kind of never left. I was supposed to be there for an hour or so and ended up working 14 hours, 15 hours or something like that. It kind of just snowballed into me being this Yeezy muse.

Veronica Webb, model: I got a call from my agency to attend the casting for Yeezy Season 3. It took place at a studio in SoHo, and the energy was unmistakably intense. There were dozens of models cycling through, a photoshoot happening simultaneously, Virgil Abloh was DJing, and a lookbook was being shot on a nearby set.

My go-see lasted maybe five minutes. There was no fitting, no discussion. I left genuinely unsure whether I was booked until my agent confirmed it later that day. Everything moved quickly, and very little was explained in advance.

Amina Blue: In high fashion, you had the typical tall, skinny look. I was completely opposite of that. I had more curves to me. I was 5’1”. I had tattoos all over. So, I didn't really fit the mold of a typical high fashion model, but [Ye] gravitated towards my look and who I was as a person. I know a lot of people were looking at me like, “This girl does not belong here,” but I had the acceptance of Ye, one of the most genius, influential people. Whatever he did, they accepted it.

The Yeezy Season 3 show was choreographed by Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft. It featured dozens of models standing on two giant cubes, which were surrounded by hundreds of other models on the floor. They were dressed in pieces like skin-tight bodysuits, distressed sweats, and bulky jackets accented with fur. The inspiration was a photograph of Rwandan refugee camp, taken in 1995 by British photographer Paul Lowe.

Vanessa Beecroft, artist (via The Cut, 2016): The image came out of one of my books, and I thought, “Perhaps this is Woodstock,” because it looked really fashionable and glamorous, but no. That was a refugee camp … I wanted the people to look poor. Poverty and elegance were the key words. Poverty and elegance. No trends, no fashion. Real poverty, what you encounter when you travel to Africa, Mexico, those countries where people wear their clothes with dignity and they look elegant and they look like they have intelligence. When we were casting, I said, ‘Please don’t have anyone who looks stupid. Or fancy. Please. Classical, poor, and elegant.’ ”

Steven Victor: We would always be places where he would be working on clothes, but my focus and my energy was music. So he'd be working on clothes and I would just be looking at it at the side of my eye like, “Oh, this n***a's a genius.”

Veronica Webb: Yeezy Season 3 was the only fashion show I’ve ever walked at Madison Square Garden. The only other experience I’ve had at that scale was participating in the opening ceremony of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

I didn’t fully grasp the size of the cast—close to a thousand models—until arriving at MSG. Liya Kebede and I shared a dressing room. Hair and makeup were intentionally minimal: a black skullcap, foundation, lip gloss. Fittings happened on site. I wore a shearling bomber, bodysuit, and boots.

Amina Blue: I was the main model who would try everything on and take pictures of it. My looks changed. I think they even changed the day of the show. But it always worked out, so nobody really questioned it.

Veronica Webb: The most memorable part was the waiting. We were on hold for nearly four hours before the show began.

Laura Prendergast, then-Global Commercial Director, Yeezy: We were all doing a seating chart for 15,000 people. There was a team of us in a hotel room for three days with six different papers of the seating chart on the floor just trying to figure out where to put people.

Jon Wexler: It was a real all hands on deck situation…there was just so much good, creative energy in there. And it was so fun to see Kanye having fun too, because he was having a blast. That was probably the best part.

The Event

Tickets sold out in 10 minutes. Among the nearly 20,000 attendants were celebrities like the Kardashian family, A$AP Rocky, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Bella and Gigi Hadid, Luka Sabbat, and Anna Wintour. Ye was joined on stage by close friends and collaborators including Don C, Ibn Jasper, Steven Victor, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T. Models included Yeezy Season regular Amina Blue, super models Naomi Campbell and Veronica Webb, and Lil Yachty, Young Thug, and Ian Connor.

In addition to the album listening and fashion show, Ye teased the video game “Only One,” which depicted his late mother, Donda, flying through the gates of heaven. It was never released.

Laura Prendergast: There were seating requests for the best viewpoint. It's a stadium, so it's a lot more difficult to know. There is no front row. A lot of these fashion industry people were like, “We want to be front row.” And we're like, “Well, front row is not necessarily the best viewpoint.” So, we had to maneuver it in a way that people felt like they were still getting the best experience or were in the best position. You didn't just have the stage with the fashion show; you had [Ye] with the DJ equipment playing the album. Some people wanted to be right in the middle of that and feel the energy of that versus just watching the fashion side of it. It was tricky to meet all those requests.

Cyhi, then-G.O.O.D. Music artist: I didn't go to my hotel for two days. We went straight from Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz’s studio in New York to Madison Square Garden for the fashion show.

Steven Victor: We were just chilling. He was like, “Alright, let's go to MSG.” And I'm like, “Okay, we're going to wait for security.” He was like, “No, let's go.” And me and him just got in the car. He was so nonchalant about it.

Cali DeWitt: I was in Japan at the time, so it all went down for me via text and email. It went from idea to event in a matter of days. I don’t remember working directly with anyone on the team. Ye wanted to fly me out for the event, but I declined as I was in Tokyo working on an exhibition. He was somewhat surprised I didn’t want to come.

Coodie Simmons, director: Everybody that was famous was in that audience. It was packed all the way to the nosebleeds.

Joe Perez: I think it was a brilliant balance between multiple teams that were working at the top of their industry. Everybody felt really comfortable. I just sat back and enjoyed it to the fullest extent that I could, having been up for 36 or 48 hours straight.

Cyhi: It was like the meeting of the minds, the meeting of the creators, and everybody was in one spot. It was a wonderful time in music.

Tracey Mills: [Ye] was being very specific with the vibes. He wanted all of his crew, all his people that were on the album, around him. It just formed the way it formed. It wasn't like, "Cudi, you're going to be next to me. Travis, you're going to be here. Pusha, you're going to be here.” We were just mobbing in together. There was so much genuine love for Ye and what he did. We all came together for that common goal of pushing the culture forward.

Laura Prendergast: The energy was pretty wild in MSG. It felt like you were sitting in the biggest living room in the entire world with all your closest friends listening to someone's album for the first time.

Chris Gayomali, journalist: [Ye] started playing the album. I think “Ultralight Beam” is one of the best album openers possible. Tonally, it set the table for everything that came after it.

[Ye] had his friends around him and I was like, "Oh, he looks really happy." It's etched into my mind. Cudi was there. They had their arms around each other. They were jumping around and singing. All the Kardashians were sitting close by. He had everyone there for this moment and it allowed him to have this sturdy base to make art as the best version of himself.

Heron Preston: Nothing beats hearing music that loud. All invited guests and ticket holders were hearing it for the first time. Since we were on the team, we already knew the lyrics. It’s always cool to sing along and vibe to tracks you’ve heard before everyone else.

Veronica Webb: I didn’t interact directly with Kanye West that day. The only time I experienced his presence was through his voice—over the PA system or a microphone once we were already on stage.

Joe Perez: Everybody remembers the iconic pictures of Kanye with the Pablo hat on with his hands up. If you flip that camera around, I was on the other side of that. So I got to see everything unfold pretty face on. It was kind of like being front row at a concert, but I was going back and forth between behind the scenes and then out in the show just because there was merch being handed out backstage, and I was in charge of making sure everybody got the right pieces.

Steven Victor: I don't know if anybody at that moment realized what was happening, with the exception of Travis [Scott]. You see his reaction in that moment. He was fully aware like, “Yo, this shit is bonkers.”

Veronica Webb: From my perspective, the scale was overwhelming, and the conditions underscored how different this was from a traditional runway show. We were instructed simply to take our places at the top of the pyramid and remain still.

As a model, I’ve learned that clothing comes alive through movement. Without the opportunity to walk, I had to reframe my approach mentally—treating it more like being on a set than on a runway, and finding subtle ways to communicate presence and intention.

Amina Blue: After a while, I remember sitting down. I don't want to say I didn't listen, but we always kind of did what we wanted and we didn't really get any shit about it. [Ye] kind of loved us for being who we were.

Veronica Webb: The sense of scale was undeniable. I remember questioning whether this marked a shift in how fashion would be presented going forward—where streetwear, celebrity, and spectacle intersected on a massive stage.

Amina Blue: I think the energy was so much higher than all of the other shows that we have done because it wasn't just live streamed. There were actual fans there. I think [the fans] were just on 10 as soon as they came into the stadium.

Ibn Jasper: I don’t really remember too much about that day. I was just trying to stay out of the way because it was so hectic. Everyone was jockeying for their spot in front of the cameras because it was a live stream. I was just trying to chill and watch the show with my girl at the time. It’s kind of a blur.

Kim Kardashian, at the time still married to Ye, attended the show along with many of her family members: Caitlyn Jenner, Kris Jenner, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Kendall Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, and North. The family wore matching white furs designed by Olivier Rousteing. This also was the first public appearance of Lamar Odom since a near-fatal overdose in 2015, who accompanied Khloe, his ex.

Kim Kardashian, attendee: That was so much fun. I mean, our family, we were all there. We all support each other. From my mom to Caitlyn to Lamar and Khloe, we were together. Northy was wearing a little white Yeezus sweatshirt and fur and her little two braids. I think that just shows who our family is. That was such a moment and an iconic time to be at MSG and for everyone else to hear the album for the first time. It was lit. I loved it.

You know when people have a breakup and they delete everything and I'm like, "It happened. I don't deny it." Or maybe people just don't want to see it in their feed and be reminded. I get that too. So I'm not judging. But every phase in my life is such an important one and such a great one. No matter what goes on, I always just look at the positive and I always try to think of the amazing things that were learned and what came out of it. And so those are all super happy times and memories for me.

Jon Wexler: You had the modern day equivalent to the Run-DMC, “Everyone raise your Superstars in the air,” from the ’80s when [Ye] put on the song “Facts” and everyone started cheering “Fuck Nike.” I'm still convinced that is how that song made the album. I've never asked the question, so it's just speculative, but in my heart, that's what I believe.

Lil Yachty, rapper and model (via Club Shay Shay): This was when I was living in New York. Man, I was so broke. I had no money, no nothing. If you watch that thing, they had a curtain over us before the show started and I was in the back. I was in the last row…I was still happy to be there but I was like, “Nothing’s gonna come from this.” And at the last second, they took me and they put me right in the front row.

Jon Wexler: I was there both as a fan of the music, but also kind of like a proud fucking dad. I was like, “Holy shit, we really just imagined this.” It was a special thing. As a person who kind of helped to facilitate this whole thing, there was just something even deeper for me that was meaningful. It's hard to put in words.

Lil Yachty (via Club Shay Shay): I like to say that really did help my career. It just put a lot of eyes on me. It just kind of made it a thing of like, “Man, who is this kid?”

Jon Wexler: It was epic in terms of impact, culturally. Philosophically, it gave [us at Adidas] a lot of inspiration to be like, "Holy shit, we're on a level playing field [with Nike] and we're really now leading this marketplace in design, aesthetic." [Ye] was just prolific in his ability to land what people wanted to be wearing on their feet at the moment.

Coodie Simmons: It was like, “Whoa, look at all of these people that came out to support Kanye.” That's when I felt how big Kanye really is. A listening party/fashion show sold out Madison Square Garden. I was in the back of the Garden going past old pictures of Walt Frazier and Muhammad Ali. I've been back there before, but being back there because of something that he did, and it turned out like that, I understood the power that Kanye had.

Cyhi: That was the last snapshot of everyone together. If you think about it, you see that video all the time. It almost made me come to tears to see that video of Trav, Push, Cudi, myself, Tony Woods. Everybody was there. It was like the whole family was there.

Jon Wexler: I got the sense that it was one of the greatest days of [Ye’s] life because everyone he loved from his family and his community was there with him. And then he also got to provide the creative expression of his dreams to the world. So it's like his whole family's there. He's launching this business a year later. He's celebrating that. It's somewhat of a victory lap, but almost a flag in the ground to say, "We're here to stay."

Kanye West, artist (speaking at the event): One of the hardest things to do was to find the talented people that worked on the collection to believe in my vision enough to come roll with a rapper. It feels so good to see all of you, all my brothers, all my music family, my wife, her sisters, and all of New York City standing behind the crazy n***a from the interviews.

Chris Gayomali: Leaving the venue, everyone was buzzing. We didn't have any service in there, but text messages were going through. I remember everyone I knew who was there was all texting each other about how euphoric that moment was.

The Merch

As much as the music, the Pablo merch defined 2016. The arch of Gothic letters spelling out the album title, along with lyrics from the album, came from California-based artist Cali DeWitt. The burgundy and royal blue T-shirts, hoodies, and caps with vibrant red letters that were released at MSG that day commanded insane lines at merch booths and sold out swiftly.

In the months that followed, merch pop-ups unfolded across the country, which sold DeWitt’s gothic-lettered designs in regional, limited-edition color schemes. The look was also bootlegged countless times over.

Cali DeWitt: I had met Ye through my relationship with Virgil. I had made him a custom memorial sweatshirt for his mother earlier in the year [Ed. Note—On Nov. 7, 2010, Donda West died following complications from cosmetic surgery ]. For me, that was the main function of those sweatshirts, memorials. I didn’t sell them. I only made them for people I knew and they were only available as a trade.

Joe Perez: I think I have over 200 separate folders of just ideas. And each folder is probably about 100, if not 200, ideas. It kept changing because he was changing the album title. Before The Life of Pablo, it was going to be Swish. It kept going between all of these different names and themes.

Phil Moore, attendee: The lines for the merch were crazy. Booths would sell out and then the crowd would shift over to the next booth.

Joe Perez: Virgil and I took a walk out. He was like, “Let's do some laps and see how the merch is selling.” So we went out and checked out the kiosks. There were just massive lines. Even when the show was going on, there were lines of people buying merch. It sold out.

Amina Blue: I think he really set the tone with all of his merch. I don't remember any other artist really doing merch and it blowing up as much as it did with him.

Phil Moore: The hat was the biggest draw. The first time I had a line at my shop was for that hat. I walked away that day with 15 to 20 hats and a duffle bag full of shirts.

Cali DeWitt: [Ye] seemed excited about it. If I work with someone, I want them to be satisfied. That’s the goal. The rest of the noise that happens around it is something else, something out of my control.

Joe Perez: After the event, a bunch of us went to this restaurant in the city to celebrate. I remember Khloe Kardashian was there and she really wanted Kanye's hat. His hat was special because it just said “Pablo” And Kanye looks at Khloe, and he looks at me, and he's like, “Joe, who wears the Pablo hat? Who's Pablo?” And I'm like, “You're Pablo, Ye.” Khloe was so mad at me. [Laughs.]

Cali DeWitt: It was fun and kind of surreal to see the thing explode. And it was really fun for me to see how many bootleg versions appeared. I also almost had the awareness that this is one of those things that can define you, and I naturally reject that kind of thing. I was grateful for the popularity but also busy making something different from that style. I didn’t want to get stuck making that thing for a decade.

The Impact

Everything changed after the Yeezy Season 3 show. As far as live experiences go, he attempted a similarly ambitious series of three listening events for DONDA in 2020 that were created with the help of Demna, then the creative director of Balenciaga, hosted in Atlanta and Chicago. While they were also celebrated by fans, they are not looked at with the same reverence as Yeezy Season 3.

Laura Prendergast: No one in the music industry had really crossed that barrier into the fashion industry like [Ye] had at the time. I think that really opened the door for a lot of young designers to come in and flourish. People started paying attention a bit more to what was going on outside the traditional structure.

The landscape has completely changed. I feel like we're desensitized to this idea of how it was 10 years ago. But I think it's pretty incredible what was accomplished and pretty amazing that it really bulldozed a way for different voices and communities into a space that was historically really closed off.

Joe Perez: When I go to any other live performances now, nothing really compares to anything that man has produced.

Veronica Webb: [My daughter] was 13 at the time, in eighth grade, and followed the show through social media. For weeks afterward, she and her friends talked about it as a defining cultural moment.

What stayed with me was her observation that many young girls saw their own body types reflected in a way they hadn’t before. Curvier figures, different proportions, different backgrounds—it felt inclusive to them, without relying on heavy makeup or overt sexualization. For that generation, it expanded the idea of what could be considered beautiful or cool.

Amina Blue: There have been so many brands that have copied off of him, so many people. He is a trendsetter in every way, shape, and form.

Chris Gayoamali: I think it was a clear melding of fashion and music in a way that hadn't been really attempted before. For all the chaos that was swirling everywhere, there was a real coherence to his vision of what he was trying to pull off there. It was a high point in a lot of ways.

Joe Perez: On a personal level, it was definitely the highest high of my career. In terms of the event itself, to this day I still get emails from people that are in college that say that they were inspired by that and that made them go into design or fashion, or the merch had an impact on them.

Tracey Mills: The next generation saw that there was a standard. There's no limit to what you can do. I don't think anybody would've thought at that time, other than him, that you could get Madison Square Garden to do a listening party and a fashion show with 1,000 people wearing your clothes. But Ye always lets you know it's possible. He doesn't box himself in. He doesn't restrict himself.

Cali DeWitt: It probably changed something in the merchandising business. I can’t talk about business because I’m not interested in it. I think it brought some people joy and that is cool.

Phil Moore: All the stuff that I've gotten rid of over the years, 10 years later, I still have those TLOP merch pieces. So, I guess that says something.

Jon Wexler: [Ye] would be calling me in the background being like, "Let's do another one of these in two months.” We were going to blow up that whole fashion cycle and just do spectacles. But he shifted gears with new management stuff between February and June.

Chris Gayomali: It was emblematic of how musical artists could have ambitions beyond music. It was kind of a proof of concept. Nowadays, it isn't weird for an artist to dip into fashion. Pharrell's running Louis Vuitton. It sort of normalized a lot of it. And it's kind of crazy to see how everyone who was in his orbit ascended into fashion and became the industry themselves.

Jon Wexler: I think everyone involved recognized it was just this amazing confluence of the world under one roof. It was all positive and it just represented everything good about the culture at that exact moment.

Chis Gayomali: What was the refrain? I miss the “old Kanye.” Yeah, I miss this.

Heron Preston: Think big. Go crazy. Break the system. Be fearless.