Is YEEZY Gap The Collaboration Of The Year?

There was no denying the anticipation and excitement surrounding the mysterious YEEZY GAP collaboration, with fans waiting on tenterhooks to get their hands on the sure to sell out merchandise. And with a June release promised by GAP, a June release did indeed happen without warning or announcement on Tuesday 8 June - in true Kanye West fashion. After becoming available to pre order on GAP’s website, the first item to drop, and sell out, was a zipless, cobalt blue puffer jacket priced at $200 which the rapper was seen wearing last week. With more merchandise still to come, stock will be shipped in the Autumn.

Kanye West wearing the blue puffer from the YEEZY GAP collection

The collaboration between GAP and YEEZY has been a year in the making. In June 2020, the rapper signed a 10 year deal with GAP. Shortly after in a flurry of Tweets, West shared a variety of images showcasing his latest designs and products he was working on, direct from his Wyoming ranch with the help of British-Nigerian designer, Mowalola Ogunlesi. In other images teased over social media, fans can be sure to expect a variety of hoodies available to pre-order soon (West revealed to the WSJ that he wanted to make “the perfect hoodie"), sportswear enthused jackets, basic t shirts in neutral tones and comfortable daywear.

Clothing samples shared by Kanye West from his Wyoming ranch | @kanywest twitter post, 15 August 2020

But not all has been smooth sailing. In September, West took to Twitter threatening to halt his work with Gap until he was made a board member: 'I’M NOT RELEASING NOTHING ON GAP TILL I’M ON THE BOARD.” Furthermore, in an interview with The New York Times, Sonia Syngal, chief executive of GAP Inc, revealed after much speculation that it would be over to YEEZY to announce the collection launch date. “We are pleased with the creative process that we’re seeing with Yeezy, and as we said, creativity really takes time.” Syngal also hinted that consumers could expect multiple drops of merchandise, stating that GAP’s plan was focused on “multiyear potential — it’s not a one drop and done.”

So how much is the partnership between GAP and YEEZY worth? According to an estimation by UBS Group AG, a staggering $970 million. However this figure could be a lot higher considering that the YEEZY brand alone is estimated to be valued at between $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion, thanks in kind to the 2015 lucrative partnership with Adidas. Forbes estimate that sales of YEEZY Adidas sneakers reached a huge $1.7 billion in 2020 alone.

If anything, GAP is depending on this YEEZY collaboration to boost sales. Over the past three years, GAP sales fell from $5.3 billion to $4.6 billion. Yet Syngal claimed in March 2021 that GAP’s first quarter sales were up 89% to $4 billion from a year earlier, rising 8% from the same period in 2019. There is no denying that Kanye West is a force to be reckoned with in the fashion industry and the YEEZY GAP sales will surely speak for themselves.