Kayne West and Gap Clothing Brand Officially Terminate $1 Billion Partnership Before End of Contract

Rapper and 24-time Grammy Award winner Kanye West notified clothing giant The Gap Inc. that he’s terminating their agreement with the Yeezy-Gap clothing line.

The New York Times reports West ended the relationship citing a breach of contract. The business relationship, announced in June 2020, began with significant fanfare and led to Gap’s stock price seeing its biggest increase in 40 years.

The partnership was supposed to last 10 years and was expected to generate more than $1 billion. However, two years later, the clothing brand acknowledged the relationship was over in a letter to employees.

“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,” the Gap brand president, Mark Breitbard, wrote.

“And we are deciding to wind down the partnership.”

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the College Dropout rapper said he’s done with corporate partnerships and wants to go into business for himself.

“It’s time for me to go it alone,” Ye said in the interview.

“It’s fine. I made the companies money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever. Like the round jacket, the foam runner, the slides that have changed the shoe industry. Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience.”

West’s lawyer, Nicholas Gravante Jr., sent a notice to the brand saying it “abandoned its contractual obligations” by failing to sell the Yeezy-Gap line products in its namesake stores and had not opened stores specifically to sell Yeezy products.

Gap told The New York Times it will continue to sell Yeezy-Gap products, including a holiday collection that will debut later this year, through the first half of 2023.

The brand initially said the Yeezy-Gap line would debut in 2021; however, the release date was pushed back several times, and in the first 18 months of the partnership, only two items were released, a jacket and a sweatshirt.

Items in the Yeezy-Gap line sold for significantly higher prices than typical Gap items, including hoodies selling for more than $200 and t-shirts ranging from $60 to $120. In addition to leaving Gap, West is also trying to end his business dealings with Adidas.