Donda & Steven Smith

Kanye West Appoints Steven Smith Head of Donda Industrial Design

Image via Getty/Brad Barket for Fast Company
Image via Getty/Brad Barket for Fast Company

YeĀ announced today the appointment ofĀ veteran sneaker designer Steven SmithĀ as the head of Donda industrial design. Smith has been a close collaborator with the artist for years, executing Kanye Westā€™s vision in footwear via the Adidas Yeezy line.

Smith, who previously held the title of executive designer for Yeezy, started working with West on footwear in 2016. His earliest projects in the Adidas Yeezy line included the Yeezy Boost 700 and the Yeezy Powerphase.

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The release announcing Steven Smithā€™s new role at Donda. Image via Donda

In his new position, Smith will expand beyond footwear to work on furniture, vehicles, and more within the West empire. A release issued by Westā€™s creative company Donda announcing Smithā€™s role features a portfolio of his sneaker designs (which appear below) and a concept for something called the Donda Foam Vehicle.

ā€œIā€™m honored to help create our shared vision of the future,ā€ Smith said in a statement to Complex. ā€œMr. West is the singleĀ most inspiring creative I have ever worked with.ā€

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A concept for the Donda Foam Vehicle. Image via Donda

Smithā€™s long career has spanned almost as many decadesĀ as it has brands. Heā€™s worked on iconic silhouettes for a number of different sneaker companies, from the New Balance 574 to the Reebok Insta Pump Fury. SmithĀ started as a designer at New Balance in 1986, left for Adidas in 1988, and then moved on to Reebok in 1989, spending eight years there. He did a two-year stint at Fila before landing at Nike, where he worked from 1999 to 2009. In the next decade, he worked for Adidas again, this time as a freelancer, and briefly for Keen before connecting with West.

Itā€™s unclear how Smithā€™s appointment at Donda will affect his and Westā€™s relationship with Adidas, which has been recently contentious. The announcement today comes after West blasted Adidas on Instagram last month, calling out his biggest brand partner and accusing it ofĀ knocking off his Yeezy designs. Westā€™s long-term partnership with Adidas has been successful, but heā€™s occasionally been critical of the brand in public statements.

The fresh title for Smith could be indicative of a growing rift between Adidas and West, the latter shuffling his product team to be less aligned with the sneaker brand going forward. Donda did not offer any clarity on what kind of organizational change Smithā€™s new job involves with respect to Yeā€™s Adidas deal, but Donda is an entity totally separate of Adidas.

Adidas did not respondĀ to a request forĀ comment on Smithā€™s new role.

UPDATE 7/6:Ā An Adidas spokesperson has provided the following statement:Ā ā€œAdidas works with different creative minds based on what is best for our business and partners. As part of our collaborative relationship with Ye, Steven Smith worked on the Adidas Yeezy line at Yeā€™s request. As the business has evolved, Steven has accepted a full-time role as head of Donda industrial design, where we look forward to continuing to work together.ā€

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