Ye Announces Takeover of Gap’s Times Square Flagship for Yeezy Gap
Written by SOURCE on July 21, 2022
The next chapter of the Yeezy Gap era is a uniquely immersive and fittingly expansive one, with a Times Square flagship takeover signaling a first for the ongoing creative project headed by the artist formerly known as Kanye West.
As announced on Wednesday, Yeezy Gap product will be available for the first time at Gap stores, starting with Gap’s Times Square flagship on Thursday and at additional select Gap stores in the U.S. soon.
Per a press release, visitors to the Times Square flagship—which will be “reengineered and distilled to its most essential form”—will have the opportunity to shop Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga pieces starting at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday.
An announcement video from Ye was also released on Wednesday. See the video, directed by Thyago Sainte with creative direction by Betsy Johnson, above.
An Instagram account for Yeezy Gap was also launched.
Ye and Gap, of course, have an extended history that dates all the way back to his College Dropout-documented days as a retail employee for the company. In the summer of 2020, the Yeezy Gap partnership was first announced, with Mark Breitbard (Global Head of Gap Brand) saying at the time that the pairing was poised to give consumers a “next-level” experience.
“We are excited to welcome Kanye back to the Gap family as a creative visionary, building on the aesthetic and success of his YEEZY brand and together defining a next-level retail partnership,” Breitbard said at the time.
The ensuing years have proven that to have been an accurate prediction, with subsequent successes including the rollout of the long-discussed Perfect Hoodie and the unveiling of a “creative exploration” from Yeezy, Gap, and Balenciaga.
Mere days before the latest Yeezy Gap announcement, Ye made a return to Instagram and said the black colorway of the aforementioned hoodie “sold 14 million dollars worth…off of a television commercial that was ran one time.”
Revisit the full version of that commercial, which doubles as the video for Donda track “Heaven and Hell,” below.
