Kanye's 'White Lives Matter' shirt deemed a fashion crime

Ye enlisted conservative political pundit Candace Owens for his Paris Fashion Week stunt.

Ye enlisted conservative political pundit Candace Owens for his Paris Fashion Week stunt.

“I am a leader.”

There Ye goes again. The rapper and designer formerly known as Kanye West showcased a surprise Yeezy show at Paris Fashion Week on Monday afternoon, the day after he stomped the catwalk at Balenciaga's apocalyptic Mud Show.

Ye opening Balenciaga the SS23 Paris Fashion Week show.

“WHITE LIVES MATTER”, was the message stamped on the back of t-shirts worn by Ye, alongside conservative political pundit Candace Owens and several models (including Lauryn Hills’s daughter Selah Marley.) The front of the bogus shirts were emblazoned with an image of arch-bishop Pope John Paul II, and the phrase “Seguiremos Tu Ejemplo,” which translate in English to “We Will Follow Your Example.”

Ahead of the show, Ye elaborate on the concept driving the collection, telling Vogue: “There’s just people. From the same planet. And sometimes, in high school, it feels like we don’t fit in. And in a situation like this, we have the opportunity to come together to express who we are.” 

Kanye West and right-wing commentator Candace Owens.

He didn’t explain the use of the “White Lives Matter” slogan.

The slogan, borne in reaction to the Black Lives Matter Movement, and embraced by white supremacist groups like Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Renaissance, has been categorised a “hate slogan” by the Anti-Defamation League. 

This isn’t the first time pop’s unpredictable provocateur has embraced conservative political imagery: from his red cap MAGA posturing, to donning a bomber jacket stitched with a conservative flag patch. 

Politics are an artform that have fuelled Ye’s career trajectory for years.

Prior to his pivot to conservatism (or is it conservative posturing? We can’t tell), he was vocally progressive. His music and lyrics have vividly addressed racial inequality, and condemned the systemic racism of the prison-industrial complex ('New Slaves'). “George Bush doesn’t care about black people” he said during a 2005 benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina, in an incident that projected him to total pop culture domination. 

But in recent years, he’s lurched towards the right wing and thrust himself into the culture wars. The show has, expectedly, been met with condemnation. Actor Jaden Smith tweeted that he left the presentation early, writing that he “had to dip,” "I don't care who it is, if I don't feel the message I'm out," he wrote, adding "black lives matter".

I Don’t Care Who’s It Is If I Don’t Feel The Message I’m Out.

— Jaden (@jaden) October 3, 2022

“I am genuinely mortified for the Black woman who walked that runway, wearing a garment with a racist response to an important civil rights movement? It’s impossible to know her political ideology, or what autonomy she had while being dressed,” wrote Vogue’s Raven Smith.

Stylist and fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson wrote that the show was ‘hugely irresponsible,’ noting Ye’s decision to have children from his Donda Academy (including his daughter, North) perform the music.