US rapper Kanye West has told fans to call him Martin ‘Louis’ The King Jr. in future.

In a short video message on his blog, West joked that he had been “forced” to adopt a new pseudonym following the launch of his new trainers for Louis Vuitton.

The shoes, which come in bright red, were unveiled for the first time on Thursday at Paris Fashion Week.

“Due to what has happened - what has happened so severely when the red shoes hit the runway,” West said in the message, which is directed to “the world”.

“I was forced to change my name to Martin Louis the King Jr. Address me as such.”

West ended the video, which was shot in a hotel room in Paris, with a line from T.I.’s ‘Swagger Like Us’.

“And until then I will be in the building, swagger on a hundred-thousand trillion,” he said.

A message from kwest on Vimeo

As previously reported, West's creation for the fashion house, which is part of an extensive line of trainers, won high praise from the fashion world.

He told the LA Times that the experience of seeing his own design on the runway was “overwhelming”.

(by Jason Gregory)