Kanye West accuses Gap of stealing his designs

By

Siham El Yandouzi

Translated by
Roberta HERRERA

Published
Sep 8, 2022

While the release of the new collection Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga has been met with controversy, tensions between Kanye West and Gap have not seemed to have subsided. A few days ago, the artist, who now goes by the name Ye, accused the American label of plagiarizing his designs. Posting a series of messages and photos on Instagram, the celebrity claimed that Gap would gather its team without him present to appropriate his designs, especially for creating the brand's classic T-shirts. In one of his deleted posts on Instagram, the singer had stated, "This is Gap copying YGEBB."

 
A few hours ago, he unveiled a new message addressed to Gap on Instagram: "I could hear the joy in my teams' voices today. Adidas don't want any more smoke. The movie credits are rolling. This war wasn't about money. It was about control of our families, our businesses, our history, our voice. I gave them the opportunity to settle this quietly. Now it's time for Gap."

That was before he upped the ante an hour later, sharing the message the retailer had sent him, "Your legal team recommends that we refrain from posting anything on Gap for another 10 days."

Ads

While the collaboration between Kanye West and Gap has been in full swing since 2020, the American rapper has once again caught the attention of online users by presenting the clothes of his latest capsule in recyclable bags, which strongly resembled garbage bags.
 
As a matter of fact, under the artist's will, the Gap stores didn't have any display, nor hanger or shelves for the garments. The staff were also forbidden to assist shoppers.
 
The clothes made in China were rolled up into balls in bags, including a parka sold at 400 euros. The retailer, which took the form of a flea market, explained that the designer drew its inspiration from the homeless. This concept raised questions about the meaning of its approach and the moral values of both the artist and the company. Was the display concept meant to condemn the living conditions of people in precarious situations or to allow customers to experience their own vision of poverty?
 
For the past few years, the company has been claiming to be involved in charity work. However, this marketing approach did not win over everyone. On Twitter, a customer reacted after visiting the store: "This is how they sell the Yeezy Gap collection. The sales associate said Ye got mad when he saw they had it displayed on hangers and this is how he wanted it. They won't help you find your size either, you just have to dig through everything."