Written by Cassell Ferere

Friday, June 26th, Kanye West announced his collaborative partnership with Gap Inc. In a tweet followed by some vaguely curious imagery of what seems to be a sample of what’s to come from their partnership. West has also hired British-Nigerian fashion designer Mowalola Ogunlesi to channel his Ye’ energy as design director for the 10-year deal penned as Yeezy Gap.

A new Gap-like logo surfaced that has the letters ‘YZY’ which solidifies the collaboration with a visual queue.

Ironically, earlier this year before Yeezy Gap, Gap was intending to collaborate with New York City's budding fashion star, Telfar Clemens on Telfar x Gap moving into the new year. Clemens spent time talking about the collaboration with many media outlets interested in detailing the story. Gap even threw a party for Clemens during Paris Fashion Week in January in celebration of the Telfar x Gap collaboration. But when the COVID pandemic hit, it seems that the conversation had quieted.

Without hearing much from Gap, it was reported they had canned the collaboration between Telfar, and because of COVID, they had to close some 3,000 stores and suffered some cash flow issues in the same breath. The Business of Fashion reports the ax, saying they postponed the Telfar x Gap collab indefinitely.

Now when Kanye West made his announcement, stock for the Gap rose some 30-40% and the internet had witnessed the #WestDayEver a hashtag Kanye West initiated via twitter. This is to say Gap has been having financial problems over the years so adding Yeezy to their roster doesn’t hurt. But what hurts is the fact that they had to cut ties with a younger Telfar to make room for Yeezy Gap.

A source says Telfar and his team have not been paid for creating samples for the line which Gap still has possession of. And the two did not sign any contracts before the press run or working toward the collaboration in any capacity, or even before the pandemic. All of which raises some questions.

Many have come out to say they are confused about what happened between Telfar and Gap. Some fashion enthusiasts, like Bryan Boy, are plain-old mad.

“Fuck Gap for screwing Telfar,”

Bryan Boy said on his twitter.

Gap should know that there has been an upheaval in the fashion industry. And taking someone off the future roster and replacing them with someone they think - more so than not - will make them more money compromises the ideas expressed by fashion recently. About inclusivity and creating space for black talent as equals. This furthers the notion that celebrity is still a pawn when diversifying.

Gap has been known as a fashion conglomerate and has more than enough room for two big collaborations. Telfar has his customer base different from Yeezy and that should be an incentive for Gap to build up their name. There was an offer to pay Telfar part of a $100,000 design fee before the communication between the two parties came faltering to a halt. 

This still needs to be clarified by Gap. And a conversation with Telfar to get his side of the story is needed. We will sit with a bittersweet taste in our mouths for what should have been until then.

Telfar was initially excited about the collaboration mentioning,

“Working with the Gap is a dream come true,”

similarly to how Yé has quoted his affinity for the Gap in his music.

This is part of the problem that exists in fashion and the world. Kanye West may have remedied the thought of the situation by hiring great talent from African roots, in Mowalola Ogunlesi. But Telfar Clemens is still representative of the Black community that would have only enhanced Gap’s image and their market as a 50-year trendsetter.

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