Pastelle, the Original Kanye Brand, Is Back
Pastelle was paced to be the next it label by Kanye "Ye" West when it quietly surfaced in the late 2000s. However, Ye put the brand on the backburner, reportedly stating that Pastelle wasn't ready for the public and, instead, pursued other fashion endeavours. We did get some pretty iconic pieces out of it — like the Pastelle varsity jacket — though they never saw the light of day. But that may be changing soon.
Following the resurgence of some unreleased Pastelle clothes throughout 2023, it's become official: Pastelle is back, as confirmed by the newly-relaunched label itself.
So, Pastelle, a nearly two-decade-old streetwear line, back for 2023? What does that even look like? "With an emphasis on modernized silhouettes and updated designs, the past tells everything, but the future holds much more," a press statement reads. Get it? Past tells all? Pastelle?
According to Pastelle's statement, the brand plans to strike a balance between previous concepts and fresh ideas, while still aligning with original vision instilled by Ye and frequent collaborator Virgil Abloh. Hmm. An updated version of Kanye's Pastelle varsity jacket, perhaps? I'm sure fans would love to see it.
Ye's legendary blue Pastelle varsity jacket has been making a bit of noise lately, having recently surfaced for sale with a renowned streetwear collector. Prior, Ye's eldest daughter North West flexed the coveted jacket during Paris Fashion Week in 2022, carrying her dad's style crown down to the Balenciaga Crocs on her feet. Remember Ye's hulking stomper days?
Now that I think about it, the Pastelle jacket's resurgence arrived with perfect timing and generated the perfect level of buzz — just enough to get fans roused ahead of the official relaunch.
Pastelle is first debuting at ComplexCon on November 18, offering up some archival pieces for the first time since it was brought back from the dead. Fans can expect further drops and updates to go down on the new Pastelle website.
The new Pastelle is under the direction of Christian Azzinaro, influencer Bloody Osiris, and Ian Connor a crew who've all worked with Ye in some capacity over the years.
It was first reported in 2016 that Connor would be heavily involved in leading Pastelle's new era. A longtime friend to Ye, Abloh, and others in similar circles, Connor was previously a style consultant to the musician. Bloody Orisis operated within Ye's styling realm as well.
Connor and Ye appear to be especiaclly tight these days, though. So close that Ye has used Connor to deliver messages to his old pal (or enemy now?) Elon Musk multiple times, first during Ye and Kim Kardashians war of words in 2022 and most recently in October 2023.
"You can't watch Kim keep my kids from me and not say anything publicly and then call yourself my friend" Ye wrote in his open letter to Musk.
Strange that Ye doesn't have Musk's phone number himself or that he decided not to tweet his message himself, given that his Twitter account was reinstated earlier this year.
Here, it's worth pointing out that Ian Connor has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women and was jailed in 2019 on unrelated charges.
It's also worth mentioning that Ye apparently isn't involved with Pastelle anymore. Not that he's resting on his laurels: Ye's many projects in the pipeline include a new YEEZY headquarters and forthcoming album with Ty Dolla $ign (that keeps getting pushed back), all the while frolicking shoeless.
