Designs on fashion: Kanye West has commissioned a limited-edition line of silk scarves from French design collective M/M (Paris)
He was front row at almost every catwalk show earlier this year, and wore a women's Celine cardigan on stage last month. Now Kanye West has taken his sartorial instincts to the next level.
The rapper, 33, has commissioned a line of scarves in collaboration with French design partnership M/M (Paris).
The five limited-edition designs, on sale from Monday, are based on paintings made for the cover of Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album.
Artist George Condo's original work for the album cover, which featured a nude portrait of the artist with a female beast on top of him, was allegedly banned from stores last autumn for being too racy.
Instead, Kanye decided to print the image in silk, along with four other design commissions based on his musical fantasies.
The star named them Power, Phoenix, Face, Priest and Ballerina, and each is set in a frame of gold lettering created by the M/M (Paris) team.
Just 100 of each scarf will be made, and will be sold exclusively through M/M (Paris)’s website, and at French boutique Colette for 250€ ($364).
A press release announcing the collaboration explains how Kanye asked M/M (Paris) to design the album packaging for the record last autumn.
It read: 'During the creative process, M/M (Paris) created a series of hand drawn ornamented frames to adorn the Condo paintings.
'The design team decided to use the most striking combinations of the paintings and the frames, and transform them into silk scarves.'
Controversy over Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album cover emerged last October.
The artist claimed the artwork had been banned by U.S. retailers due to the racy nature of the Phoenix design.
He unveiled the design via Twitter a month before the album was released, writing: 'Yoooo they banned my album cover!!!!! Banned in the USA!!! They don't want me chilling on the couch with my phoenix!'
Referring to the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind, which famously featured an image of a naked baby swimming, he continued: 'So Nirvana can have a naked human being on their cover, but I can't have a PAINTING of a monster with no arms and a polka dot tail and wings.'
Controversial: George Condo's original work for Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy album cover was allegedly banned by retailers for being too racy. Instead, the artist has decided to print the image in silk
Limited-edition: At $364 each, only the seriously wealthy will be able to layer the scarves as intended. But with just 100 of each design printed, they are likely to be in short supply in any case
But Wal-Mart denied banning the image, and was forced to release a statement to that effect.
The company said: 'We're excited about Kanye West's new album and we look forward to carrying it in our stores on 22 November. We did not reject the cover artwork and it was not presented to us.'
Even the design's creator, Mr Condo, suggested that the artwork was a publicity stunt, telling the New Yorker that Kanye had been looking for 'something that will be banned'.
Fantasies: The designs are inspired by Kanye, who named each of them. Face (left) and Ballerina (right)
Creative process: Mr Condo's artwork is surrounded by a frame of gold lettering created by the M/M (Paris) team. The designs include Power (left) and Priest (right)
M/M (Paris) has a history of celebrity collaborations. It has also worked with musicians including Björk, Madonna, Benjamin Biolay and Etienne Daho.
The creative partnership with the company is the latest fashion project for Kanye, who created a line of sneakers for Louis Vuitton in 2009, and the Air Yeezy sports shoe with Nike.
He also has a clothing range, Pastelle by Kanye West.
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