Kanye West, Gap End Partnership
Kanye West has reportedly informed Gap that he is severing his partnership with the clothing brand.
According to the Associated Press, the rapper’s attorneys sent a letter to Gap notifying them that Yeezy LLC would be terminating its agreement with them claiming that Gap failed to meet the terms of its contract.
In turn, Gap sent a letter to its employees, according to Pitchfork, confirming the partnership is now over.
“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,” Gap president and CEO Mark Breitbard wrote in the letter. “And we are deciding to wind down the partnership.”
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“Yeezy Gap was launched to be a disruptive, highly creative endeavor—one that’s challenged us to think and operate differently, attracted new, younger and more diverse customers, and enabled our talent to deliver incredible work with unmatched dedication, grit and creativity,” Breitbard added. “We look forward to our upcoming Yeezy Gap launches and releases in the pipeline, as planned. To the Yeezy Gap team, thank you... for your unrelenting push to build this business—we will harness that same energy as we push forward.”
West’s team say Gap was obligated to sell 40 percent of Yeezy Gap items in brick-and-mortar stores throughout the third and fourth quarters of 2021, and that Gap was contractually required to open up to five retail stores dedicated to Yeezy Gap products by July 31, 2023.
Gap will reportedly be able to continue selling existing Yeezy Gap gear before ending use of the brand name.
“Gap left Ye no choice but to terminate their collaboration agreement because of Gap’s substantial noncompliance. Ye had diligently tried to work through these issues with Gap both directly and through counsel. He has gotten nowhere,” West’s Attorney Nicholas Gravante wrote in a statement to Pitchfork.
