Kanye West accuses Gap of stealing his designs, holding meetings without him
Kanye West has returned to Instagram to make a handful of accusations aimed at clothing company Gap, who the rapper has a collaborative deal with via his own Yeezy brand.
On Tuesday (August 30), West posted a photo of what appear to be some fluorescent Yeezy Gap sunglasses, alongside a caption that read: “Gap held a meeting about me without me?” Later that day, he posted a screenshot of a text message exchange in which he shares a photo of a model in a Gap t-shirt and accuses the company of stealing one of his designs.
“This is Gap copying YGEBB,” West wrote, referencing the Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collaboration. He captioned the post, “But they canceled the photo shoot with my kids in Japan without me knowing.”
Shortly after that, West shared a video in which he addresses a group of people, possibly members of the Gap company. “This is not celebrity marketing. This is not a collaboration. This is a life mission,” West declared in the clip.
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Today (September 1), West shared another post in which he revealed plans to open independent Yeezy stores worldwide, starting with a location in Atlanta. “I’ll buy the land and or building. Then we gonna open up in every state and then internationally,” West wrote, before putting a call out to those with more than a decade of retail experience to reach out to him.
“I signed with both Adidas and Gap because it contractually stated they would build permanent stores which neither company has done even though I saved both of those companies at the same time,” West continued, referencing his collaborative deals with both companies. Pusha T commented on the post, telling West to put him down to assist with Virginia and Pennsylvania Yeezy store locations.
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West and Yeezy partnered with Gap back in 2020, with an aim to create “accessible” fashion. The first Yeezy Gap line arrived roughly a year later in mid-2021 – featuring a jacket made with recycled nylon – and further drops have included hoodies, pants, tops and accessories.
West vocalised his criticisms towards Gap during an interview on the Drink Champs podcast earlier this year, saying, “Ain’t nobody care about the Gap until we went to the Gap, bro.” He added: “I moved that stock… Even when they dropped the hoodies, they made it look like the Drake cover on purpose and didn’t show me.”
More recently, West copped flak after Yeezy Gap products that he suggested were inspired by “the children” and “the homeless” were sold in stores out of black construction bags that were mistakenly believed to be trash bags.
West made a rare television appearance to defend the decision, telling Fox News’ Fox & Friends that he felt he was being “misrepresented and misunderstood”. He added: “I’m an innovator and I’m not here to sit up and apologise about my ideas.”
Over the past year, West has also aired multiple grievances with Adidas, who he partnered with under the Yeezy banner in late 2013. In June, he accused the brand of creating a “fake Yeezy” by releasing their Adilette 22 slide sandals, which he compared to his own Yeezy slides.
Last month, Ye criticised the company again when he said that Yeezy Day – August 2, the annual day in which Adidas releases some of its most anticipated Yeezy sneaker drops – was created by the sportswear brand without his personal approval.