Kanye West Officially Ends GAP & Yeezy’s 2-Year Partnership After Public Feud
Kanye West accused Gap, Inc. of not holding up their end of the deal for their YEEZY Gap brand collaboration. Learn all the details here.
(UPDATE: 10/25/22 AT 1:45 P.M. ET): After Kanye made antisemitic comments on social media in mid-October, Gap released a statement condemning his remarks. “In September, GAP announced ending its Yeezy Gap partnership,” the statement said. “Our former partner’s recent remarks and behavior further underscore why. we are taking immediate steps to remove Yeezy GAP product from our stores and we have shut down YeezyGap.com. Antisemitism, Racism and hate in any form are inexcusable and not tolerated in accordance with our values. On behalf of our customers, employees and shareholders, we are partnering with organizations that combat hate and discrimination.”
(ORIGINAL STORY); Gap Inc. will no longer be in partnership with Kanye West. Kanye’s attorneys notified Gap on the morning of Sept. 15 that YEEZY LLC is ending their 2-year partnership for failing to drop contracted YEEZY Gap clothing items and not opening promised brick-and-mortar stores, according to The New York Times. According to the publication, the 45-year-old Grammy winner sent Gap a breach-of-contract notice in August. Gap replied two weeks later, but Ye was not happy with the response or their partnership and felt “Gap left him no choice but to terminate their agreement,” according to his lawyer, Nicholas Gravante Jr. HollywoodLife has reached out to Kanye’s representatives for comment on the matter but did not receive an immediate response.
In an email sent to Gap employees by Gap’s president, Mark Breitbardthat, that was obtained by The Times, the company acknowledged the issues with YEEZY and the end of the partnership. “While we share a vision of bringing high-quality, trend-forward, utilitarian design to all people through unique omni experiences with YEEZY Gap, how we work together to deliver this vision is not aligned,” he wrote. “And we are deciding to wind down the partnership.”
The news comes shortly after the rapper blasted Gap for ripping off his Balenciaga designs. “Gap held a meeting about me without me?” Ye wrote in a since-deleted post to Instagram in late August, agreeing with a fan’s direct message that accused the retailer of stealing the Balenciaga designs, per HYPEBAE. “This is Gap copying YGEBB,” he added. YEEZY Gap has a partnership with the luxury clothing brand called YEEZY Gap Engineered by Balenciaga.
Then, on Sept. 1, Kanye hinted that he was getting ready to deal with both Gap and Adidas, another longtime partner of YEEZY , during an Instagram rant. He also called out his former mother-in-law Kris Jenner and his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, because he is upset his kids are not enrolled in his Donda Academy. He seemed to declare Gap and Adidas were next on his list of issues to fix after airing out his kids’ schooling drama.
Plus, on Sept. 12, the father of four said he wanted to move on from his brand partnerships and create his own stores. “It’s time for me to go it alone. It’s fine,” he told Bloomberg. I made the companies money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry. Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience.”
The deal between YEEZY and Gap began in 2021 and was meant to be a 10-year deal with an option to renew after five years. His first in-store launch with YEEZY Gap and YEEZY Gap Engineered by Balenciaga occurred this past July. He faced criticism for selling his new clothing out of giant trash bags, rather than on hangers.
The termination letter allows Gap to continue selling existing YEEZY Gap products that have already been created and does not affect clothing made through the Balenciaga deal