Kanye West and Yeezy Season 5: What's the big deal?

Kongratulations, Kanye: having already made it onto our list of the best fashion stories in 2016, he's vying for attention again, making headlines as New York Fashion Week refused to include his Yeezy Season 5 fashion show on their official programme .

The story unfolded rapidly last week: the recalcitrant rapper eventually repented and changed his showtime to appease the show schedules, causing consternation with those who'd already bought their tickets.

Still, the fashion world is angry, criticising the rapper for not going through the appropriate channels to schedule his show.

Why should we care about a pop star turned designer who, only last year, cancelled the remainder of his TLOP tour after a mad onstage rant and, in September 2016, caused many of his own models to faint with heat exhaustion in delaying the start of his outdoor show?

Because, love or hate it, Yeezy is one of the most influential lines out there - as his huge collaboration with Adidas shows. Having bypassed much attention of the serious fashion press, with column inches mostly filled with drama and scorn, his last four seasons have instead percolated down to mainstream fashion with alarming rapidity, and in cascading volumes- you only have to go in Topman to witness this first hand- the distressed t-shirts and the beige caps straight from his shows.

The Yeezy line is the least derivative way to wear athleisure wear- because it isn't athleisure wear, so much as street style.

In a world where much of the liberal elite are divorced from the reality of the masses, Kanye seems to bridge the gap. Yes, he is the elite, but yes, also, his clothes have a mass appeal and a mass audience misunderstood by those at the top- to their detriment.

One thing's for sure- all eyes will be on the Kayne Katwalk (sorry) on Wednesday 15 February, 3pm local time in NYC- that's 8pm- prime internet browsing time.

Live stream NYFW here