Gap management revealed that the 10-year collaboration with Yeezy had been prematurely terminated hours after Kanye West stated he was severing ties with the business. In an internal letter that the New York Times was able to obtain the company announced the news.
“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,” Gap president Mark Breitbard reportedly wrote. “And we are deciding to wind down the partnership.”
Kanye’s legal team issued a letter to the company earlier on Thursday seeking to end their contract. Ye’s attorneys claimed that Gap had broken their agreement by failing to distribute specific goods and by delaying the opening of specific YZY Gap outlets as originally intended.
“Gap left him no choice but to terminate their agreement,” West’s lawyer Nicholas Gravante Jr. told the Times. “Ye had diligently tried to work through these issues with Gap both directly and through counsel.”
The attorney said Kanye will now “promptly move forward to make up for lost time by opening Yeezy retail stores.”
The collaboration began with the introduction of a blue puffer jacket after it was revealed in the summer of 2020. Since then, a variety of items have been released by Yeezy and the Gap, including t-shirts and hoodies created in association with the Spanish fashion company Balenciaga.