Kanye West Hints At Revived Balenciaga Collaboration With Return To Instagram

Kanye West has officially made his comeback on the internet!

The controversial artist has been away from social media platforms after his insane anti-semitic tirade in December 2022 that resulted in the loss of several brand deals, a diminished net worth, and an overall backlash from society.

The rapper, in his usual pattern of being mysterious and enigmatic with information like past times, has now returned to Instagram and hints at reviving an old relationship with his former business partner.

Taking to his Instagram account, West shocked his 18 million followers after posting a cryptic picture months after being silent and away from social media.

The record producer shared a picture of a male model wearing a gray turtleneck full-body suit and a pair of red customized designer sunglasses. The striking photo was taken on a neutral-themed color background. West proceeded to tag "Balenciaga" in the post.

Leaving fans to figure out the reason behind the unexpected post, the rapper instructed them to write their desired captions under his post. "Write a caption," he urged.

Not only did the photo amass over 800,000 likes, but his excited fans proceeded to praise the rapper in the comment section. One fan revealed, writing, "Close encounters of the Ye kind.. You changed my life in McCormick Place parking lot like 20 years ago." Another commented, "I forgive you."

A third lamented, "Thank God you came back. Things were so boring around here." Singer and rapper Stefflon Don appeared to have felt West's absence the most. She wrote, "Where the hell you been at"? 

She further quipped, "When it's the time of the month but he still wanna taste." A thrilled fan wrote, "YE is back Bby ?," while a rather shocked but pleased supporter wrote, "the return of the king ?."

There were, however, aggrieved fans that called out the "Runaway" crooner. One observed, "When the antisemite allegations end and the companies forgive you."

Another aggressively inquired, "Are you still an antisemitist or should we stop following you as a whole"? A third sarcastically commented, "When you get replaced with a clone but then pretend everything's normal."

Although it seems things are beginning to look bright for the fashion designer, this wasn't always the case, as Balenciaga turned its back on the rapper during his controversial era.

In October 2022, the parent company of Balenciaga, "Kering" revealed that the French fashion house would no longer be working on projects with West following his anti-Semitic threats.

Responding to a query from the news journal WWD after being questioned about their stance on the rapper's continued irrational behavior, Kering said, "Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist."

It would be recalled that the "Bound 2" rapper opened "Balenciaga's summer 2023" show held in a mud pit during Paris Fashion Week, wearing what looked like battle gear, including a branded mouthguard shielding his teeth. 

Well, the French fashion house removed the image of the rapper wearing the attire from their website, notwithstanding that the outfit was his latest collaboration with Balenciaga artistic director "Demna." 

Among other questionable acts that West has carried out, the one that gained media attention happened to be the YZY surprise show he staged in Paris that featured T-shirts with the slogan "White Lives Matter" alongside a monologue in which he prided himself on being "unmanageable."

Faced with public backlash over the disputed show, West proceeded to publicly attack everyone from fashion editors to former friends and luxury mogul Bernard Arnault. His irrational act resulted in his suspension from Twitter and Instagram for violating the platform's policies on hate speech. 

The "Donda" rapper hasn't been the only one in the partnership that has suffered public rejection and criticism for a controversial stance. Balenciaga has also had its fair share.

Not exempt from public scrutiny and criticism the luxury fashion brand came under fire following its questionable ad campaign that featured "bondage-clothed teddy bears" in late November.

Despite the looming scandal and the severed collaboration, the dad of four deemed it appropriate to take his wife Bianca Censori shopping at the designer store during that crucial time.  

As reported by The Blast, the Yeezy founder and Censori, photographed by paparazzi, were seen going about their business at a Balenciaga store in Beverly Hills. 

While West dressed in his usual all-black ensemble, with huge black boots to complete his look, his gorgeous wife looked stylish, dressed in an oversized fluffy-looking yellow coat and a pair of black thigh-high boots.