The Yeezy Gap Collection is Much More Than a Marketing Stunt
Kanye West is proving how lucrative his quasi-religious appeal can be
On June 8, 2021, Kanye West turned 44. Yeezy Gap made the first product from its collection available for a pre-order: the Yeezy Gap round jacket. It was widely available, for a limited time; another time will come in autumn of 2021. All official traces of it at the Gap website and social media have since been scrubbed from the internet, to keep the excitement (hype!), but its footprints still exist. Many people follow Yeezy Gap’s collection and products closely, but I’m much more interested in the organization and the business. A little over a year ago, I wrote my first piece for Marker on why Gap decided to sign with Yeezy:
Earlier that day, the New York Times reported a 10-year licensing deal between Kanye West’s Yeezy and Gap. Gap hopes its upcoming Yeezy Gap line will generate $1 billion in annual sales within five years. … In addition to royalties, should Yeezy Gap meet revenue targets, Gap will grant Yeezy 8.5 million common shares. At its current stock price of $12, that stake would be worth just over $100 million.
Hot off the jacket drop, on June 30, 2021, CNBC reported a Wells Fargo estimate saying that billion in annual sales could possibly happen in the first year:
