Kanye West Is Not Happy With GAP And Adidas
It’s lonely at the to for Kanye West.
Ye has taken to social media to voice his displeasure with Adidas and GAP.
In a flurry of now-deleted Instagram posts, the artist claims both companies have been shutting him out of meetings and using his designs without his knowledge.
Yeezys have changed the shoe game entirely since their release with Nike in 2007. Ye then went on to collaborate with Adidas, making his sneakers one of the most popular pairs of kicks in the 2010s.
Throughout the majority of their partnership, Adidas gave Ye the creative control he wanted and assisted in making his products more accessible to the public. But as of late, Adidas has been creating different designs and colorways without his approval, according to West.
In his collaboration with GAP, the artist aimed to create affordable clothing that would be available in stores nationwide. The partnership was going well until he noticed items similar to what his brand features were being released by GAP. Ye soon realized they were having meetings about his products without him.
Since then, Adidas and GAP have both taken significant backlash from West’s followers.
On Sept. 15, Ye notified GAP that he was terminating their partnership, citing dissatisfaction with the company’s progress on building physical Yeezy stores.
“Everyone knows that I’m the leader, I’m the king. A king can’t live in someone else’s castle. A king has to make his own castle,” West said in an interview with CNBC.
The controversy has left Ye with Yeezy Supply as his only brand. But his reach with the general public is not as strong under Yeezy because of the product’s exorbitant prices.
If he were to stop releasing products with Adidas as well, it hurt his reach even more.
Nevertheless, with or without these companies, Ye will find a way to succeed in the fashion industry.
The difference between Kanye and other artists is that he doesn’t cooperate with what people believe is right, but what he believes is right.
Through music, fashion or even religious beliefs, Ye will always stand by his word and promote it alongside his image no matter the backlash he faces.
