Kanye West ❤️ Eddie Bauer

Kanye West's wardrobe is quite streamlined, mostly composed of YEEZY and Balenciaga, alternating with garments from other brands.
There are streetwear such as Brain Dead, workwear such as Carhartt and Dickies or luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton and Prada, but also vintage classic pieces of Patagonia and of The North Face. Someone has noticed that the star loves Eddie Bauer and has worn its Ebtek fleece jacket on several occasions: during a gig at Tyler, The Creator's Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival and for the birthday of his nephew True. The image of West holding the girl in his arms and the jacket in plain sight reminded us of the brand's golden age: the 90s.

In those years with the explosion of hip hop culture, the flannel shirts and hooded parka by Eddie Bauer were among the rappers' favorites items. The brand was even mentioned on Hit 'Em Up by 2Pac "With the ready power, tuckin' my Guess under my Eddie Bauer" and by Jadakiss "Load the three power, hop in the Eddie Bauer" on 24 Hours to Live. It was an unexpected success for the company founded in 1920 in a small shop in the center of Seattle.

The turning point for the brand arrived when Bauer, after nearly dying from hypothermia on a winter fishing expedition, invented the first goose-down jacket and coined the company's motto “There can be no compromising quality when lives depend on performance.”  Skyline made its debut in 1936, but was patented in 1940, becoming the first real modern down jacket, the ancestor of the item everyone now owns and that the designers constantly propose on the catwalk in different versions. Great innovator, the man creates outwear for the U.S. Army Air Forces and for mountains expeditions, but also for ordinary people, achieving good sales results, exploded in the '90s when, thanks to the partnership with Ford and hip hop artists, young people include them in their wardrobe. In the following decades, unfortunately, lost its popularity. 

Now that Kanye has put Eddie Bauer back in the spotlight and introduced it to Gen-Z, many could imitate him and bring his products back into a trend. Complex hopes so, too, and a couple of years ago it included the brand among the 90s stuff worth reviving, but if it really happens it's hard to say.