Rap superstar Kanye West has pleaded with fashion critics to give him "a chance to grow" as a designer after debuting his new women's collection in Paris, France to lacklustre reviews.
The Stronger hitmaker unveiled his Dw line on Saturday (01Oct11) as part of Paris Fashion Week in front of guests like Lindsay Lohan, actor/rocker Jared Leto, singer Ciara and Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour.
His runway show won rapturous applause from the audience, but critics weren't as kind, with some urging West to stick to music.
New York Times writer Eric Wilson wrote, "Mr. West, the rapper, did not disappoint, if only in terms of creating a scene... There was one good-looking pair of colour-blocked pants in blue and coral, but it was obvious that most of the clothes suffered from a poor fit."
But West is brushing off the negative reviews and putting the Paris Fashion Week debut down to a learning experience - because he wanted to "break boundaries" and follow his own instincts.
In a post on his blog, West thanks his supporters and calls on his detractors to "be easy".
He writes, "Thank you for anybody that didn't believe, because they motivated us to break our boundaries... We don't know what the reviews will be, we don't know what they will say... I gave you everything that I had.
"This is my first collection. Please be easy. Please give me a chance to grow. This is not some celebrity s**t. I don't f**k with celebrities... The amount of people that tried to get me a celebrity f**king deal. They said, 'You need to do boot-cut jeans, or you won't sell.' Shut the f**k up!...
"I thank anybody who came to this party, everybody who supported, everybody who believed, because people thought it was a joke, and maybe people still do, but I can only grow from this point."