Last July as he was working at home, Kanye West conceived of an idea that struck him as genius: the perfect hoodie. Slightly cropped at the waist, heavy as a winter coat, it would be like comfort food, biblical in its ability to soothe but futuristic in its reach. In a color like flax or dusty stone—a palette Jesus might have worn—it would be made for the masses, sold for $60 or so, folded and stacked on tables like loaves of bread.

West, who is 42, and his Yeezy label team hoped to sell this garment somewhere like Costco,...