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| Photo Credit: AP. |
NEW YORK (AP) — Kanye West says he’s breaking up with the Gap. An attorney for Kanye West, who goes by Ye, told The Associated Press that a letter has been sent to the clothing chain Thursday seeking to terminate the contract between Gap and West’s company, Yeezy.
The clash
comes a little over a year after Yeezy’s first item— a blue puffer jacket —
appeared in Gap stores. The deal was announced in June 2020.
“Gap left Ye
no choice but to terminate their collaboration agreement because of Gap’s
substantial noncompliance,” said Nicholas Gravante, West’s attorney with
Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, in an emailed statement to the AP. “Ye had
diligently tried to work through these issues with Gap both directly and
through counsel. He has gotten nowhere.”
Gravante
said that Gap’s failure to comply with the terms of the contract has been
costly. He said West plans to begin opening Yeezy retail stores.
Gap couldn’t
be immediately reached for comment Thursday.
The San
Francisco retailer had been hoping the partnership with West would resonate
with customers in a period of declining sales. For Yeezy, being in more than
1,100 Gap stores worldwide would have put his brand in front of more people.
West has had
a history with Gap. He worked at one of its stores in Chicago as a teenager.
And he told Vanity Fair magazine back in 2015 that he wanted to be creative
director for the brand.