Kanye West spotted in 'prized' Belfast school jumper

The school principal says only 35 of the jumpers were made

Kanye West and west Belfast - what connects these two beyond just a name?

More than you think, it turns out, in a case that's more watch the threads than Watch the Throne.

The rap star and fashion designer has been spotted wearing an unusual jumper in a social media video - one bearing the crest of a west Belfast school.

And, even stranger, it's one of only 35 such sweaters ever made for St Mary's Christian Brothers Grammar School.

The video posted on fellow rapper Ty Dolla Sign's social media account shows West getting a pedicure while flashing his latest, and oddly-Belfast inspired, fashion choice.

The principal of the all-boys school, Siobhan Kelly, told BBC News NI the sweaters were designed for the school's appearance in the final of a Gaelic football competition, the McLarnon Cup, in 2008.

The St Mary's school crest, as seen on its school website

"That's 100% one of our tops. Only 35 tops were made and given to playing squad and management," said Mrs Kelly.

"Last night past and present pupils were messaging saying: 'That's our top!'"

From Power to charity shop scourer?

Now the question is how did West, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, get his hands on such a rarity?

The rapper is also a fashion designer and runs his own fashion label. He also had deals with major fashions brands Adidas, Balenciaga and Gap before being dropped, and banned from social media, over a string of antisemitic posts.

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So has the man behind hit song Power turned to a charity-rank scourer to come up with this find?

Mrs Kelly doesn't know, but she does know that the jersey is "usually a prized possession".

"He may have been given it by someone from west Belfast or maybe he picked it up in a charity shop - we do not know," she said.

In the video the rapper can be seen sitting in a chair with his feet in a basin as someone, who has been blurred out of the video, gives him a pedicure.

But the rapper cuts the treatment short after he is heard crying in pain and said, "It's my toes. It's my toes. I'm not gonna do it. It hurt."