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Source: Kanye West 2008 American Music Awards – Arrivals held at Nokia Theatre Los Angeles, California USA – 23.11.08 Featuring: Kanye West Where: United States When: 23 Nov 2008 Credit: Adriana M. Barraza / WENN

Way before YEEZY Supply came to be, Kanye West had big dreams for his first fashion brand called Pastelle. A deep investigate report details what could have been but failed when he was rocking raccoon tails.

In a 6,000 word plus feature Complex details how Pastelle originally came about almost ten years ago when powerhouse talent agency William Morris, who represented West at the time, reached out to the Italian eyewear brand Retrosuperfuture.

They met ‘Ye at his Manhattan apartment for a brainstorming session. “Everything happened so fast,” explained Daniel, CEO of Retrosuperfuture. “For about an hour, they thrashed out ideas, discussing various samples of Retrosuperfuture sunglasses—including the Classic, Retrosuperfuture’s first design, and the Gino, a then-unreleased frame that features a golden triangle on the bridge of the shades. “The conversation was out of this world”.

Apparently, collaboration would be the foundation of Kanye’s Pastelle line as he reportedly invited the who’s who of the fashion industry to help on the project. The a-list included the likes of KAWS, Ben Baller, Virgil Abloh, LRG founder Jonas Bevacqua and more. “It was X-Men coming together,” explained designer Taz Arnold. “[Kanye] had some colorful individuals and creative people working to his benefit.”

But even with all the talent on the committee and samples floating around the official launch never happened. In 2009, most of the look book leaked online, prompting West to put a stop to the entire project. High Snobiety would go on to confirm the news in a report the day the images hit the Internet.

You can read the report in full and see some exclusive never seen before prototype pieces here.

Via Complex

Photo: Felipe Ramales/Splash News/Corbis