Back in 2015, Kanye referred to the former Gap CEO, Mickey Drexler, as a “master of his game”, comparing him to the likes of Nicholas Ghesquiere, the creative director of the house of Louis Vuitton. Mickey is said to be the brains behind Gap’s dominance in pop culture, way back in the ‘90s.
Kanye worked in a gap store back when he was only 13 years old and he was a huge Gap fan. West has had his eye on Gap for a long time now and due to his success with his company, Yeezy, Gap has decided to partner with him. Kanye may be drawing inspiration from how Mickey Drexler popularized Gap fashion when entering this new partnership with Gap. The Yeezy x Gap partnership which was announced on Friday, June 26th, is expected to mark the starting point of restoring Gap’s name and brand to its former glory.
Kanye’s partnership may be exactly what Gap needs during these tough times as the company has recorded losses almost every recent financial year. Gap’s attempt to make the brand relevant again by branching into baby care products and home furnishing did not work out as well as they had hoped and it’s easy to see this move as one of the company’s desperate attempts to get people through their doors.
Some of the details revealed of the partnership include a 10-year deal with a renewal option. According to interviews he gave in the past, Kanye had always wanted to do a clothing line that everyone had access to. “Exclusivity is the new N-word”, Kanye once said. So this deal works perfectly for Kanye. According to the agreement, West gets to have creative latitude while keeping his clothing line affordable. Gap is known for its affordable prices and they already put it out there that that part of their reputation wasn’t going to change, going into this new venture.
Despite being controversial in the opinion of many people, Kanye might be just what Gap needs to keep their doors open. Gap stands to win the lottery from their deal with Kanye because hate him or love him, Kanye is a mad influencer of fashion and at this point, it’s safe to assume that almost everything the rapper touches turns to gold.
The ‘Spaceship’ rapper gets to have the last word in the creative process of making a new fashion line for Gap that’s meant to for men women and children. West also gets to sell Yeezy fashion on a larger scale and the cherry on top is that the prices of the products will make Yeezy fashion accessible to almost everyone which is something he’s been wanting to do since his days at Nike.
Brand relevance is one thing Gap should look forward to should this partnership work the way it’s expected to. The Yeezy x Gap partnership has the potential to bring Gap a whopping $1 billion in sales during the first year. Gap gets to work with a creative genius and a trendsetter who could help them reclaim their former glory in the 10 years that they will work together.
From the looks of things, Gap is the one getting the most value from its partnership with Yeezy. Everyone expects great results come January 2021 we all hope that this is just the beginning of a wonderful partnership ♦
Loading ...