Kanye West has always been a proud, self-proclaimed college dropout and though he lacks what most scholars would deem real "book smarts," there's no doubt that the guy's got some serious chutzpah - especially when it comes to the fashion world. He did the Louis Vuitton sneaker collaboration, a brief stint (he called it an internship) with the design team at Fendi, and created a line of scarves a few months ago inspired by the cover art for his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. His music has even transitioned from gangster to Givenchy, name-dropping a slew of designers in a number of songs. Now though, he's ditching the collabs and label whoring to show the fashion elite just how sartorially savvy he really is (or at least thinks he is).
This September, Kanye will show his own line at New York Fashion Week as part of the Spring/Summer 2012 collections even though he doesn't have a degree in fashion design and hasn't even feigned enrollment Parsons or FIT. How did he manage to skip the typical route? Well, if Kanye knows anything about the business it's that sometimes who you know and how you work a room, or a camera, will get you a long way.
In the last couple of months Kanye's filled up some serious space on many of the most popular fashion blogs and online style editorials and it's had nothing to do with his music. His fast track to the highly-coveted slot at fashion week has left us a little perplexed, and curious about exactly how he managed to get there. Bottom line, he cheated the system and is totally getting away with it. The most surprising part? A few reputable people seem to be on board.
So if you're just as confused as we are, here's a little break down of Kanye's method he's carried out during the last few months - six ways to skip design school and schmooze your way to a highly anticipated debut fashion collection.
1. If you don't have tickets to certain shows at Paris Fashion Week, just show up anyway and project an air of entitlement - get noticed. If you think you're legit enough to get in uninvited and actually have the guts to try, maybe you'll score a seat at McQueen, Balmain or Louis Vuitton. Kanye did this last March and though he was ultimately refused entry, he knew in his heart that he deserved to be there just as much as Anna Wintour and Carine Roitfeld. Plus he got some really cool street style pics outside with Anna Dello Russo.
2. Attend The Met Ball with Tory Burch in a custom tux by the designer. She's never done menswear before but if she thinks Kanye is chic enough to don her first attempt, then he must really have some serious style cred to start paying attention to.
3. Attend the 2011 CFDA awards and present an award to Phoebe Philo. Kanye's never been shy about his love of Cèline, so why not take this opportunity to actually thank the woman who made him look like a chick while performing at Coachella? Before he gave Phoebe the award for International Designer of the Year he stated, "I don't get up on stage unless I really believe in something." The fashion crowd in attendance? They all seemed to be sold.
4. Go to a meeting at London's Central St. Martin's (alums include Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney) and make everyone think you're enrolling in their masters program in design. Why was Kanye actually there? To meet with Louise Wilson, head of the program, for a special project which ultimately turned out to be his upcoming line. He also poached some interns from the school. Oh, and there were also reports he made a big donation to the school as well.
5. Get an editor/stylist and well-respected British designer on board with your collection. More recently, sources have revealed that Kanye's been in Paris working as a team with designer Louise Goldin on the line. He's also apparently been consulting with Australian Harper's Bazaar editor and freelance stylist Christine Centenera for months. Where did they meet? Paris Fashion Week of course. And Louise Wilson, who actually used to tutor Goldin, recently gave Kanye a major shout-out, thus granting him the credibility he's been craving: "I've known him for two years now and he's incredibly knowledgeable about fashion, he's a global phenomenon and a very interesting person. I think we can expect a well-considered collection, you wouldn't expect less from a pair of professionals and I warn against dismissing it in haste. There are those who might assume Louise will be doing all the work and Kanye is just the face, I don't believe this will be the case - he researches thoroughly and is hands on and committed to his work."
6. And finally, as if this entire thing weren't ambitious enough, publicly state that you want Kate Moss to be the face of your collection. Who knows, maybe Kanye will actually pull this last one off. At this point, we wouldn't put it past him.