Yeezy trainers, made by Adidas and designed by controversial rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West - are now becoming a collector’s item, according to Impossible Kicks chief executive John Mocadlo.

Adidas parted ways with the rapper following a string of antisemitic rants last year, leaving the sportswear brand with around £1 billion worth of shoes from its partnership with the rapper.

Macadlo told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today programme that "people are targeting the product as a collector's item now”.

“When they come into a store, they don't even know he's associated with the product,” he said.

Since the partnership went south, Mocadlo claimed that Yeezy sales had risen by 30 per cent, and that a pair of Yeezy 350 Zebra shoes now sell for between $340 and $360 in contrast to around $260 four months ago.

Uncertain what to do with the excess stock, Adidas has previously said it was mulling selling the footwear and donating the profits to charity, having nixed other options such as destroying them.

During a string of media appearances in which Ye claimed he “likes Hitler”, the rapper also expressed concerning antisemitic rhetoric on his Twitter feed. Despite this, Elon Musk decided to reinstate Ye’s banned account after he took over the platform.

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