Kanye West Is Done With The Gap, Partnership Coming To An End

Kanye West has had it with Gap and the partnership he created with them. He has allegedly formally notified the brand that he wants out!

The rapper apparently sent a letter to the retail company requesting to dissolve their partnership because they haven’t held up their end of the bargain. As you may have been seeing online. According to the Wall Street Journal, Kanye has claimed that Gap hasn’t delivered what they said they could do.

Specifically, certain styles were ignored for others and then Gap released their alleged own styles that Kanye claimed looked too similar to his Yeezy style. Yeah, it’s a lot. So this has left them, “no choice but to terminate their collaboration.”

The “Stronger” rapper also alleges that Gap was meant to sell at least “40% of Yeezy Gap assortment in brick-and-mortar retail stores during the third and fourth quarters of 2021.” Which the letter claims they have not done.

The rapper has been talking about this line since at least 2020 maybe even earlier. He has been getting his fans hyped and ready for the clothing drop. When he announced the 10-year deal, he tweeted, “YEEZY AND GAP FORM PARTNERSHIP #WESTDAYEVER,” and teased the “YZY” logo.

He described the band ad jogger chic essentially, specifically he noted that it would feature, “modern, elevated basics for men, women, and kids at accessible price points.” He made sure to let fans know that the infamous Adidas Yeezy sneaker would not be available through Gap.

The first item to appear in the Gap stores was a hoodie. A typical black hoodie with the logo feature on it and cost a whopping $90. It is referred to as the “perfect hoodie” and went on sale in 2021.

Not a great start to the 10-year-long deal that West signed himself up for. Another issue that Kanye took with the Gap deal was they weren’t moving fast enough on those promised stores. Gap allegedly claimed in the deal that West would have his clothes sold in stores.

The hoodie made the cute but since then, the rapper claims they haven’t held up their end of the bargain with the rest of his Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga capsule collection.

Gap supposedly agreed “to open as many as five retail stores dedicated to showcasing Yeezy Gap products by July 31, 2023.” We haven’t seen one yet, have you?

There is heavy speculation around the idea that West stuffed the deal up himself by demanding that the retail giant sell his expensive clothes in literal trash bags. There are pictures of bags of sweaters in reusable bags just sitting in empty-looking Gap stores.

This has never been Gap’s style. You don’t go from selling polo shirts and summer linens to throwing clothes in bags and telling customers to fend for themselves.

Kanye, however, saw nothing wrong with it, in fact, he defended it pretty hard and continues to. “This is Sparta. This is not celebrity marketing. This is not a collaboration. This is a life mission,” he said in a clip defending the decision. “You have to really give me the position to be Ye and do what I’m thinking … or I’m gonna quit.”

As for Gap, they haven’t said a word about the partnership being over with. In fact, they haven’t said much regarding West, the marketing, or all the drama surrounding the brand's partnership with the problematic West.

It may be safe to say that this marketing tactic for Gap didn’t quite go as they hoped it would. You have to have the wherewithal to capitalize off of West. They just couldn't hang.