The adidas Yeezy Boost 350
Known for its stylish colorways and comfortable design, the Yeezy Boost 350 features an upper made from Primeknit material (made by utilising flat knitting machinery and fused, synthetic yarns) and a Boost sole, which provides soft but responsive cushioning.
From 2007 – 2013, Kanye West collaborated with Nike on ‘Air Yeezys’, but then in 2013, Kanye West made the huge jump from Nike to adidas, and in 2015, the very first Yeezy Boost 350 began to take shape between West and adidas. The model came after the Yeezy Boost 750, which was West and adidas’ first collaboration.
The Yeezy Boost 350 was first released in June 2015 in the ‘Turtle Dove’ colorway, which is still considered to be the most iconic of all 350 styles. A couple of months later in August the ‘Pirate Black’ was released, an all-black colorway which proved just as popular. Towards the end of 2015, the olive ‘Moonrock’ and light brown ‘Oxford Tan’ colorways were released and were sold out almost instantly.
In September 2016 the ‘Turtle Dove’ colorway returned with a new twist – the upper had been fused with a studded sole and it made its debut during the NFL kick-off game. Wide receiver Andre Hopkins wore the ‘Yeezy Cleat’ for the game and was famously fined $6,000 because of it.
We also saw the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 for the first time in 2016, with the ‘Beluga’ colorway released in September. A ‘Black Friday Pack’ was also dropped in November, featuring the ‘Copper’, ‘Green’ and ‘Red’ colorways, and the ‘Oreo’ colorway was released in December.
Continuing the success of 2016, the ‘Bred’ and ‘Zebra’ colorways that were released in February 2017 were incredibly popular and as usual sold out within seconds. In April, the all-white colorway called 'Cream White' was released and was the first time the SPLY-350 branding was dropped. This same year we also saw the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 'Semi-Frozen Yellow' with its signature gum sole. Yeezy closed out 2017 with the release of the adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 'Blue Tint'.
The first half of 2018 was quiet for the Yeezy, but then the hype came back with the 350 V2 dropping a ‘Butter’ colorway drop for the Summer. Further towards the end of the year the 350 V2 ‘Triple White’, ‘Sesame’, and ‘Static’ released.
In 2019, the 'True Form', 'Hyperspace', 'Clay', 'Glow in the Dark', 'Black Reflective', 'Antlia', 'Synth', 'Lundmark', 'Cloud White', 'Citrin', ‘Yeezreel’ and ‘Yecheil’ dropped. 2019 also saw the release of the Yeezy Boost 380 ‘Alien’, otherwise known as the Yeezy Boost 350 V3. It came with a different Primeknit upper and a smoother sole unit and replaced the side stripe with a ventilation panel.
The 350 V2 released mainly in earthy tones in 2020, with the ‘Marsh’, ‘Earth’, ‘Flax’, ‘Tail Light’, ‘Desert Sage’, ‘Cinder’, ‘Linen’, ‘Sulfur’, ‘Zyon’, ‘Israfil’, ‘Carbon’, ‘Natural’, ‘Fade’ and ‘Sand Taupe’ all coming out through the year.
2021 started off with the ‘Ash Stone’, ‘Ash Pearl’ and ‘Ash Blue’ releasing in February, then the ‘Mono Ice’, ‘Mono Mist’ and ‘Mono Clay’ in June. The ‘Light’ followed in August, the ‘MX Oat’ in October and the ‘MX Rock’ in December.
After cutting ties with Kanye West in 2022, fans celebrated a Yeezy restock by adidas in June 2023, which included the Yeezy Boost 350 'Pirate Black', the adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 'Zebra', 'Carbon Beluga' and 'Onyx', and the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 CMPCT 'Panda'.
On 25 October 2022, adidas officially announced the termination of its contract with Kanye West following a number of controversies the American rapper had been involved in. This brought an end to the adidas Yeezy brand of sneakers.
While the brand name 'Yeezy' is owned by West, adidas still hold intellectual property rights over the Yeezy sneaker designs, meaning that they can continue to sell what stock it has leftover. Some of the proceeds from the June 2023 Yeezy restock were donated to organisations that were hurt by Kanye's antisemitic statements.
The Yeezy Boost 350 V2 was updated from the Yeezy Boost 350 with a transparent midsole, a new Primeknit upper and the SPLY-350 stripe that replaced the branding.
Although no one actually knows for sure, it’s speculated that the SPLY branding on the Yeezy 350 stands for either ‘Supply 350’ or ‘Saint Pablo Loves You’.
The Yeezy Boost 350 is incredibly popular for its versatile style and incredible comfort, which is down to adidas’ innovative Primeknit upper material combined with a Boost sole.
Upon release, Yeezy Boost 350s retail around €200-230.
Generally, adidas Yeezy Boost 350s and 350 V2s run small, so you may need to size up half a size.
