Kanye's Most Recent Fashion Speech Was Impeccable

Kanye and fashion are pretty much inseparable, and he's as much a part of the fashion game as the music game at this point. From sitting front row at Fashion Week to designing one of the most coveted pairs of sneakers to covering Vogue to inventing leather jogging pants, 'Ye is a bona fide fashion icon. And so it makes sense, I guess, that he's seen The Devil Wears Prada; but I still can't picture Kanye sitting down at his home theater for a screening. All those parties to go to, all those records to make, all those fashion shows to see — maybe he watched it whilst on the road during his Yeezus tour? His appreciation of the film was made explicitly clear in Kanye's speech at the Fashion Los Angeles Awards on January 22nd. While presenting the award for "Fashion Innovator of The Year" to Milk Studios' Mazdack Rassi, Kanye made parallels between his life and The Devil Wears Prada:

“As we all know, The Devil Wears Prada was about Anna [Wintour], so I was like, I want to be in the middle of that conversation where she was talking about the blue sweater. And previous to Instagram and all that type of s—, you know this conversation: ‘You think you’re not a part of fashion because you don’t da-da-da-da,’ and somehow me and my crew, these straight black guys from Chicago who no one knew why they were at the f—— show, wanted to say, ‘Let’s make the conversation shorter between from when the blue sweater goes to a Wang show to when it finally hits Kohl's’ or something.”

West's full eight and a half minute speech is just a goldmine of quotable Kanye, and a little more about his experience in fashion than about the recipient. I mean, he says himself, "I don't know if I made any good points," — but who really cares? Because:

He was hilariously literal:

"Everyone’s a fashion insider. It’s illegal to be naked. Everyone has some form of fashion every day.”

He got metaphysical:

"Design is the closest to truth, truth is the closest to love and love is the closest thing to god, and god is love."

He expressed his love for Jeremy Scott:

"I don’t move. I don’t leave my f—— crib unless I really believe in someone. I don’t read the teleprompters, and I’m so happy that Jeremy [Scott] is here because Jeremy asked me to come here also, and he’s one of those bad motherf—— that changes the game and always expresses himself.”

West came across as warm, insightful, funny, and charming even while he rambled on. Although Kanye has been mocked for his interviews and been doubted as an authority on fashion, this passionate speech is just more proof that the haters are wrong. Between drawing personal parallels and talking about the greater function of fashion in society, it became more obvious than ever that West is an important voice on fashion. Being situated between two different scenes and bringing a unique viewpoint to the conversation gives 'Ye a special place in the fashion discourse and his sartorial excellence proves his expertise. So bye bye haters.

Images: Getty; Giphy