The long-term deal between rapper turned fashion designer Ye and Gap Inc. has been terminated long before it was supposed to expire.
The two parties argued over whether or not the company held up their end of the agreement for distributing Yeezy products.
Ye announced the split on social media before appearing on CNBC to discuss his rationale.
According to Ye, the main issue came down to how Gap Inc. priced and distributed his designs. Shirts he wanted to price at $20 were instead priced for $200.
There was also an agreement about Yeezy stores. According to Ye, these were supposed to be brick and mortar stores to sell Yeezy products.
But instead, the company did pop-ups.
“And they just ignored us about building stores constantly. It was very frustrating. It was very disheartening.”
The most frustrating thing to Ye was the lack of communication. He felt like he was “on mute or something” during meetings with heads of Gap.
Ye felt he should have been recognized as the leader on the project.
“And everyone knows that I’m the leader. I’m the king, right?”
“So a king can’t live in someone else’s castle. A king has to make his own castle.”
During the interview, as the announcement made its way into the world, Gap Inc. stocks fell.
On air the stock took a four point hit, leading the interviewer to ask about the company’s struggles.
Ye was less than optimistic of the company’s future without his involvement.
“They have one individual on the planet who could save the Gap. Sometimes, the answer’s sitting right in front of you.”
“Don’t bring a leader in and have him not lead.”
“I’m not going to argue with people that are broker than me about money.”
Ye’s lawyers sent a letter to the company about addressing his concerns back in August, giving them 30 days to rectify what they feel were breaches of the contract. However, the company apparently didn’t do enough to fix this.
At the moment, the company has been looking for a new CEO, after their previous one left in July. The president of the company, Mark Breitbart, sent an email to Gap employees making the break seem more mutual than Ye’s version of the story.
Breitbart wrote:
“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.”
“And we are deciding to wind down the partnership.”
The news left many confused.
Ye had actually worked at the retail store as a teenager and mentioned the clothing store on his early albums.
Since the split, Ye has been pushing for his own Yeezy stores.
He told Bloomberg:
“Now it’s time for Ye to make the new industry. No more companies standing in between me and the audience.”
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