In 2020, Ye took to Twitter to announce he had inked a 10-year partnership with the Gap on his own line of clothing titled “Yeezy Gap.” The first products in the partnership launched in tandem with the Donda album rollout at the tail end of 2021. Shortly thereafter, Ye announced on Instagram a monumental moment in the fashion industry, his Yeezy Gap line would collaborate with luxury fashion house Balenciaga on an entire clothing collection. The first drop, a pre-order through yeezygap.com and FarFetch, blessed us with a massively oversized ¾ sleeve t-shirt, long sleeve tee, double-layer no seam tee, hoodie, and denim jacket with jeans to match.
On the day of the drop, GAP, Balenciaga, and Ye himself showcased a lookbook on Instagram of what was to come during the second drop, originally set for a summertime release. Once again in tandem with his musical output, the music video for his track “Life Of The Party” released on May 8th and doubled as an advertisement for the forthcoming collection. Showcased to us are full-black dystopian and utilitarian designs that shock the eyes yet serve a functional purpose at their core.
Surprisingly, footwear is spotted on the models with a black pair of knee-high rubber boots reminiscent of his go-to Crocs x Balenciaga, and a pair of thigh-high heels in two shades of black. Paired with these pieces are variations of the “perfect hoodie” that feature all-black Gap box logos on the chest or hood. Outerwear is prominent throughout the lookbook with trench coats and full body gown-like pieces appearing to utilize similar materials to the standard Yeezy Gap Round Jacket. Somewhat standard clothing pieces are included as well, though are distorted through the lense of Ye and Demna. Tee shirts and long sleeves appear massively oversized with some featuring shoulder pads tucked within.
A handful of what appear to be full-body suits range from a skin tight morph suit, medical scrubs, and a motorcycle-ready outfit. Featured alongside these are some accessories, including a square backpack that looks more like a tent and a cylindrical shoulder bag. Not featured in the lookbook but seen recently on Yeezy himself is a hat that looks all too similar to the Legendary6 hat he wore during his third Donda listening party in Chicago. The lone pieces that stray from the all-black look are a padded denim jacket, inspired by the Giali 21C Motorcycle Jacket worn during his reunion concert with Drake, and a matching pair of denim jeans (though both options will be available in black).
Due to the tragedy in Uvalde, TX, the Yeezy Gap Engineered By Balenciaga collection will has been delayed until May 27th, 2022. It will release online through Yeezy Gap, Mytheresa, FarFetch, and Luisa Via Roma websites. Pieces previously released ranged from $140 for a t-shirt to $440 for the padded denim jacket, though some new pieces may venture outside this price range. For real-time release updates and reminders, keep it locked to our Twitter andMobile App to stay up to date on future releases.
Images via Gap
Sneakerhead from South Florida who turned his passion into a career. Concerts, music, trying new restaurants, and catching the latest movies are some of the things I enjoy when not writing for Sole Retriever. Email: nick@soleretriever.com
