Kai Cenat embraces critiques, addresses Kanye West and Balenciaga comparisons to his fashion venture
Kai Cenat weighed in on the Yeezy and Balenciaga comparisons to his clothing line — and his take isn’t the one you were expecting.
On the ComplexCon Style podcast, streamer-turned-entrepreneur Kai Cenat didn’t dodge the chatter that his new label Vivet borrows heavily from Yeezy and Balenciaga. He said he’s listening — and learning — and even acknowledged the influences fans are pointing out.
“I like the critiques because whether it is negative or positive, I am able to take it and learn from it.”
Cenat launched Vivet on September 12 and has been promoting the line at ComplexCon, where the conversation took another turn: Kanye West himself stopped by the Vivet setup on October 5, a full-circle moment given Cenat’s nods to Yeezy’s aesthetic and his own admission that the inspirations are “pretty evident” in the collection.
How we got here
- 2024 — It started with sweatpants: Cenat said a pair he received from Yeezy fit too loose. After he commented on the sizing, he said West sent him DMs accusing him of being a “pawn,” messages Cenat read aloud on his stream. He stressed he was honored by the Yeezy attention — the pants were just too big.
- Late January 2025 — The frost began to thaw. Cenat and West were looking to collaborate, with Cenat planning a trip to Japan to meet the rapper.
- Plans unraveled after West’s antisemitic remarks, and Cenat backed out of the collaboration. West later criticized the streamer, but the two eventually made amends.
- In his “I Quit” video, Cenat said West had been giving him advice ahead of the Vivet launch.
Against that backdrop, Cenat’s calm response to the Yeezy and Balenciaga comparisons makes sense — and it was punctuated by West’s in-person visit to the Vivet setup at ComplexCon on October 5.