The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
On Wednesday, Gap revealed the first capsule of products from its “Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga” line: a three-way partnership between the American retail giant, Ye (the performer formerly known as Kanye West), and the Paris-based luxury brand.
Most items, including $240 drop-shoulder hoodies with a dove motif and $220 stone-washed jeans, sold out on the retailer’s e-commerce site within minutes. Gap did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how many of each style were produced.
Since launching its partnership with Ye last year, Gap has garnered increased attention on social media and in the press through limited-edition drops co-signed by the performer’s Yeezy label including zipper-less puffer coats and solid hoodies, which have quickly become among the most traded items on resale platforms like StockX.
Tuesday, fans of the project watched as a timer for new products being released on the site kept changing and resetting throughout the day.
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Both Ye and estranged wife Kim Kardashian West have frequently sported looks by Balenciaga and its creative director Demna for public appearances including album drops, Saturday Night Live, and even dates with new partners as the pair embarked on a highly-publicised separation after seven years of marriage.
Balenciaga’s awareness in the United States has subsequently exploded, and it inked deals to design items for Yeezy Gap and for Kardashian West to star in the French brand’s campaigns.
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Yeezy Gives Gap Its First Hit With Hypebeasts
Yeezy x Gap hoodies have quickly become the most traded streetwear items on resale site StockX and are fetching premiums like those seen on Yeezy sneakers. But whether Yeezy can boost Gap’s overall performance is another question.
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As a push to maximise sales of its popular Samba model starts to weigh on its desirability, the German sportswear giant is betting on other retro sneaker styles to tap surging demand for the 1980s ‘Terrace’ look. But fashion cycles come and go, cautions Andrea Felsted.
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