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As Kanye West’s long-awaited tribute album to his mother Donda was released this past weekend, it’s caused a firestorm of controversy—and now an alleged jack move by West that’s surprising in how blatant it appears is adding to the drama.
According to Randy Dawkins, creative director of the fashion line Infinity G8ds, West blatantly stole the design used on their clothing for his own $100 t-shirt sold at the August 5 listening event for Donda at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The design in question is an elongated black Star of David logo with a thin cross in the middle, with the album name and the date of the event listed underneath. In an interview with The Daily Beast about the allegation, Dawkins said “We don’t have any bad vibes or bad feelings toward him, we actually like the dude. But how he handled business? Well, that’s another story.”
Dawkins went on to relate how Kanye’s personal executive chef Willie Wallace contacted Dawkins and Infinity G8ds thanks to another of his chefs, Travis Reece, being a partner of Dawkins and the brand. The mutual interest led to Dawkins talking to the “Jesus Walks” rapper, then a meeting between them in his makeshift studio at the stadium in late July.
Afterwards, there was no contact between the two camps until Reece called Dawkins to inform him that people at the August 5 event were walking around in t-shirts with the stolen design. Reece would be fired shortly after siding with Infinity G8ds, and despite West’s business manager making a call to Dawkins in the aftermath, there still has been no resolution. “To see him move in this type of way was like a misjudgment of his character for me,” Dawkins said.
West’s camp has declined to comment on the allegations.
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