It looks like Kanye West is throwing his Gap collaboration in the trash. The rapper and fashion designer formally notified the company that he’s terminating his Yeezy Gap line, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ye’s lawyers sent a letter to Gap Inc. Thursday (September 15th) saying that his Yeezy LLC is ending the arrangement, which launched in 2020. The letter, which WSJ viewed, alleges that Gap breached their agreement by not releasing apparel and opening retail stores as planned.
This news doesn’t come as a surprise, as Ye has publicly slammed Gap for allegedly copying his designs and minimizing his role inf the creative process, “You have to really give me the position to be Ye and let me do what I’m thinking, or I have to do the thinking somewhere else,” he said in an Instagram clip aimed at Gap execs last August.
Despite agreeing to opening up to five dedicated Yeezy Gap stores by July 31st, 2023, Gap has yet to opened even one. The company said that their stores will still carry the fall and holiday Yeezy Gap collections as planned before they have to cease using the name.
Ye faced some backlash last month when photos of a Yeezy Gap clothing display, in which piles of clothes appeared to be tossed in massive garbage bags, went viral on social media. Still, the rapper defended the display as an “innovative” attempt to make fashion more “accessible and informal.” And, because it has Ye’s name attached, the line still did well commercially.
WSJ also pointed out that there appears to be some similar contentions between Ye and his Adidas partnership, too. But maybe he’ll learn to become a bit more lenient and forgiving now that the death of Queen Elizabeth II has inspired him to “release all grudges” and “lean into the light.”