Kanye West is managing his relationships with Gap and Adidas like the one he has with his ex, Kim Kardashian, comparing both companies to his “new baby mamas.” He added that they need to learn to be “co-parents.”
Behind the Gap Drama
West, whose net worth is an estimated $1.6 billion, is not shy about public feuds in his business and personal relationships. However, the Chicago hip-hop mogul, who has formally changed his name to Ye, is now been voicing his desire to exit from his deals with Gap and Adidas, saying it is time to move on, Bloomberg reports.
In a new interview, Ye told the outlet that although his deal with Gap expires in 2030, he is interested in doing things his way. Ye’s contract with Adidas ends in 2026..
“It’s time for me to go it alone,” Ye said. “It’s fine. I made the companies [sic] money. The companies made me money. We created ideas that will change apparel forever.”
In addition to his latest remarks about those corporate partnerships, Ye states that there will be a “new industry” and that he will lead it with his new ideas.
Trust Issues and Copycats
His deal with the Gap is to make the Yeezy Gap (YZY Gap) line. He is also in a contract with Adidas AG to make his Yeezy brand sneakers. The trouble is that Ye suspects both The Gap and Adidas of stealing his ideas and trying to exclude him from profiling.
Adidas’ original slide sandals were cited by him as looking very similar to the company’s Yeezy slides, and Gap’s T-shirts bare a striking resemblance to a previous collaboration between West and Balenciaga, Insider reported. The Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga (or YGEBB) partnership has ended.
He also claimed both companies were holding meetings about his lines without him.
Gap and Adidas On Losing End
According to Yahoo!, Gap is losing in the feud: its reputation correlates with its declining stocks and its failure to properly promote Yeezy clothing, some of which are in trash bags as a publicity stunt, hurts a “boring” Gap more than Ye.
And it’s no secret he’s has been raking in the billions for the companies. The Yeezy brand made Adidas $1.3 billion in revenue in 2019 alone, Forbes reported. Adidas even admits, Yeezy has been one of the more profitable areas of business for them.
When Ye started to go public with his complains about Adidas, other celebs backed him. As Finurah previously reported, Ye has rallied supports from fellow rappers and moguls alike Sean “Diddy” Combs and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, both agreed to stop buying from the German athletic apparel company.
Ye’s sneaker and apparel business for the Gap is valued at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion by UBS, Bloomberg reported last year. In July, Ye announced that YEEZY Gap sold $14 million worth of “The Perfect Black Hoodie,” which are sold at $80 a pop..
