Kanye West Ends Partnership With Gap, Plans To Open His Own Stores

Kanye West has ended his two-year partnership with Gap because of “substantial noncompliance," according to The Wall Street Journal.

The breakup is official between Kanye West and Gap. On Thursday (September 15), The Wall Street Journal reported that the Donda 2 rapper-producer is terminating his Yeezy Gap line, which was active for two years. On Thursday, Ye's lawyers sent Gap a letter notifying the company that the creative would be ending Gap's agreement with Yeezy LLC. The letter alleges that Gap breached their agreement by not releasing select apparel and opening stores as originally planned.

“Gap’s substantial noncompliance with its contractual obligations has been costly,” Nicholas Gravante, who is West's attorney and co-chairs the litigation group at Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, said in a statement to CNN. “Ye will now promptly move forward to make up for lost time by opening Yeezy retail stores.”

Although Ye's partnership with Gap was announced in June 2020, the relationship has since gone downward. He's publicly bashed the company for allegedly copying his designs and reducing his role in 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 a since-deleted Instagram clip aimed at Gap.

As the Yeezy Gap termination doesn’t affect Ye's collaborative merchandise with Balenciaga, Gap can continue to sell existing Yeezy Gap products before ceasing to use the brand name. Ye's 10-year deal with Adidas is also on the line, as he's also accused the brand of stealing his designs and disregarding his involvement in events such as Yeezy Day.