Kanye West has always known exactly what he wanted. That’s made clear, again, when renowned photographer Jonathan Mannion discusses shooting Yeezy’s first magazine cover ever for The FADER.
To celebrated the 10 year anniversary of that cover, The FADER spoke to Mannion and West’s publicist, Gabe Tesororio, about the cover shoot and that period in the G.O.O.D. Music rapper’s life. Says Mannion:
Kanye styled himself that day, there wasn’t a stylist. I remember he wanted props, things that represented his style. A Louis Vuitton bag showed up and he told a story, “I tried to get a bunch of Louis stuff and they wouldn’t send it to me, so I just bought it.” Whether it was that bag he bought or a big clump of Louis Vuitton luggage he wanted to stand on, he wanted it to be LV to show what he appreciated. I remember his “If I want it, I’m just gonna get it” attitude. The brick phone he’s holding in some of these dates the photos, but there’s nothing else about these to make them seem like they weren’t taken yesterday. I’m sure that phone, at that time, was the freshest, greatest, nobody had it. It was always about being ahead of the competition. His style then was impeccable and there’s nothing about it that wouldn’t apply today.
Read the full story here. Check out the never before seen images of Yeezy, as well as the ones that made the cut, in the following pages.
Yes, Yeezy used to wear baggy pants.
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Photo: Jonathan Mannion
