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The Life of Pablo merch arrived with a bang.
A burgundy long sleeve shirt was worn by Kanye West during the Yeezy Season 3 show in front of 20,000 Madison Square Garden attendees and 20 million fans watching the livestream.
Designed by Cali DeWitt, the Los Angeles artist behind 2015’s one-off “DONDA” sweatshirt, West’s new “I Feel Like Pablo” T-shirt carried the same template, featuring lyrics to TLOP’s opener “Ultralight Lightbeam” arched across the back in gothic lettering.
The Life of Pablo era set a new bar for tour merch, from its Yeezy Season 3 arrival to its multi-city pop-up tour to the purple and gold Kobe Bryant tribute worn by Ye to Kobe’s final game.
“It’s tour merch but it’s more than tour merch,” Luka Sabbat told Complex in 2016. “It’s a movement. The album is so good. The merch is so good. You’re buying into an experience.”
For 41 tour dates and numerous pop-ups, fans flocked to cop $40 dad hats and $400 denim jackets. The popular Pablo merch sparked countless counterfeits and created an apparel economy around concerts co-opted by Travis Scott, Beyonce, and even Taylor Swift ever since.
As The Life of Pablo turns ten years old, we looked at Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo’ Merch, Ranked.
Maybe it was because the style was trendy at the time. Maybe it was the more affordable price point. But the dad hat immediately became one of the most popular pieces of Pablo merch. Burgundy and royal blue versions were etched with “I Feel Like Pablo” across the front in small red lettering.
Releasing for $95 at the inaugural TLOP pop-up, the royal “I Feel Like Pablo” hoodie doubled down on the “No More Parties in LA” lyric by blasting it on both sides. Ye would wear it on errand runs and Equinox trips, giving the merch more life through paparazzi pics.
Realtree camouflage and blunt screen printing resembled Been Trill’s iconic Owl Pharaoh merch for Travis Scott from a few years prior. The standout from the Saint Pablo Tour would also represent the final dates of the floating stage spectacle – a West Coast swing that would touch Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Jose, and Sacramento. Considering how prevalent Realtree camo is in streetwear today, this piece may fit most easily into fans’ current wardrobes.
Mall kiosks and Source Awards stylists stayed paid in the early aughts by way of pasting iconic album covers on tall tees in blunt, glossy fashion. Virgil Abloh channeled this concept for one of the most overt yet rarest pieces of Pablo merch. An orange long sleeve tee with “PABLO” printed on the front showcased the Peter De Potter album art on the back.
The Life of Pablo listening party at Madison Square Garden saw Ye shatter the idea of an album listening event and introduced a modern merch aesthetic that in some ways subverted the actual Yeezy Season collection he was concurrently debuting.
This burgundy long sleeve tee worn by West at the MSG event created the template for which Pablo merch and all other merch would follow for damn near a decade. The low overhead look placed fan gear on a clout level concurrent with high fashion, becoming errand attire for the elite and making millions (and sometimes billions) for artists of all genres.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian come from different worlds but know similar pain. The two industry titans lost parents abruptly at ages too young, shaping their life and lens of the world at large.
The two-sided “In Loving Memory” tee debuted at the MSG extravaganza and worn by West backstage depicts both Donda West and Robert Kardashian as airbrushed angels, nodding to the aesthetic of tees that celebrated life at funerals.
The stars aligned on April 13, 2016, as Kanye West was not yet on tour and longtime friend Kobe Bryant was playing his last NBA game. To immortalize the moment, West wore a custom “I Feel Like Kobe” long sleeve shirt, cheering on the Black Mamba in his 60-point curtain call.
An online release sold out, making this limited release one of the hottest and most admired launches from the Pablo collection. Kobe’s epic ending to his career and tragic loss of life a few years later have kept this tee in hallowed ground.
Denim jackets have been a signature to Ye’s wardrobe throughout his career, appearing atop pop collared pink polos in College Dropout days and beneath a shag mullet circa 808s & Heartbreak.
Remixing the Levi’s Trucker Jacket the same way Virgil Abloh attacked a Rugby Flannel at Pyrex Vision, the “Pablo” denim jacket was stamped with red paint that marked ‘PABLO’ four times across the back. It made for a statement piece that felt a bit more elevated than the typical tee and hoodie merch.
Who wins when Kim Kardashian and Jasmine Sanders square off in a singles match? Apparently everyone.
The long sleeve “Tennis” tee from the Saint Pablo tour is both the most random and transcendent item from the Pablo collection. It was even worn by Kim K herself. Seemingly a spur of the moment idea, the tour tee plasters an IG upload captioned ‘Bikini tennis anyone? 🎾’ from the day after the Saint Pablo Tour started onto the back of a black long sleeve. The photo elicited over 1.2 million likes. The tee put up its own massive numbers in mosh pits and yoga studios alike.
“Good artists copy, great artists steal,” is an infamous quote that is often attributed to Pablo Picasso. The phrase can also be used to describe the fabled “Notepad” Denim Jacket.
Riffing off Kanye’s work-in-progress TLOP tracklists, while reportedly ripping off the unhinged aesthetic of abused-but-brilliant ‘90s homeless sex worker Tweaky Dave, the obscure homage was blasted by some as stealing from the poor in the most materialistic of manners.
While other TLOP merch is more representative of the era, this sleeper hit is the item that stands tall as one of the best, and most elusive, from the memorable range.
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