The 24-time Grammy Award-winning recording artist and self-proclaimed genius Kanye West is designing a concept car to be created by his company Donda. What’s the worst that his company could produce? As reported by Complex, the strange vehicle was teased alongside the announcement that Steven Smith would become Donda’s Head of Industrial Design.
Not much is known about the Donda Foam Vehicle other than what was revealed in the teaser image. The initial image makes the concept look like the unexpected love child between a lunar rover and sneaker. Though, I hope the concept car isn’t actually made out of foam composite material.
It is presumed that Steven Smith will head the project as a part of his new role. Smith has worked in the footwear industry since the 1980s. While he has zero experience in the automotive industry, Smith has been employed by the likes of Nike, New Balance, Reebok and FILA. He was notably the executive director of Adidas’ Yeezy line, in collaboration with West. Though, relations between the artist and Adidas have been rocky since Kanye West accused the German sportswear giant of copying his shoe designs.
Sneaker politics aside, there are some hints that there will be at least one working example manufactured. The teaser image is captioned with the text: “Donda Foam Vehicle. Conceptualized, designed, manufactured in the United States. Amen.” Unless Donda suddenly gains the industrial capacity to build a car, the company would have to partner with an automaker with a production facility in the United States.
It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that the Donda Foam Concept Vehicle will be built by Tesla. Kanye West has a close friendship with Elon Musk. West has toured SpaceX and visited Musk at his home. Elon Musk supported West during his outlandish 2020 presidential campaign. Though, I’m thinking we’re going to be seeing spy shots of the Donda Foam Vehicle around the same time as the first Cybertruck deliveries.