Kanye West defends selling “homeless”-inspired Gap line in “construction bags” on Fox News
Kanye West has been making headlines again, this time for his Yeezy x Gap clothing line. The pricy collaboration, which includes a $300 bodysuit, $240 hoodies, $220 sateen cargo pants, $140 t-shirts, $60-80 tank tops, and a $40 keychain, among other pieces, has been merchandised in what looks like big black trash bags instead of on hangers and shelves. He's faced criticism for the move, with people accusing him of being insensitive to homeless people; in a since-deleted Instagram post, he'd listed "the homeless" and “the children" as inspirations for the line, as Los Angeles Times reported.
Kanye appeared on Fox News on Thursday morning (8/18) to respond to the criticism, Pitchfork points out, speaking to Eric Shawn from outside the Gap's flagship times Square location. Shawn summarized some of their convesation, saying that Kanye told him it was "God's plan" for him to talk about the issue on the network, and saying that the bags are construction bags, not garbage bags.
"I’m an innovator, and I’m not here to sit up and apologize about my ideas," Kanye told Shawn. "That’s exactly what the media tries to do. Make us apologize for any idea that doesn’t fall under exactly the way they want us to think." He later continued, "This is not a joke, this is not a game, this is not just some celebrity collaboration. This is my life. I’m fighting for a position to be able to change clothing and bring the best design to the people." Watch the Fox segment below.