“Balenciaga has terminated any correspondence with Ye (Kanye West) and has no plans for future associations,” says Kering.
Ye (Kanye West is a rapper, entrepreneur, and fashion designer. With his flamboyant conduct and gravely provocative ethnic and religious remarks, he has reiterated his position at the heart of the controversy throughout his star-studded career.
Balenciaga X Ye
Balenciaga has been detaching itself from Ye for some time now. In a recent controversial interview on the podcast Drink Champs, Kanye West claimed that George Floyd wasn’t murdered but rather died from an overdose of fentanyl instead. He then said offensive things. His accusatory actions resulted in sanctions from Twitter and Instagram.
Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, shared a close-knit relationship with the brand Balenciaga and its creative director, Demna Gvasalia. Alas, after a long rebuttal over antisemitic remarks, controversial comments, and most recently, a t-shirt worn by the global artist at Paris Fashion Week with the quote, “White Lies Matter,” finally terminated this seminal partnership between the artist (Ye), the French fashion label (Balenciaga), and its parent company (Kering).
Interestingly, Kanye, for his runaway debut, Balenciaga’s SS23 collection was displayed at the recently finished Paris Fashion Week. Days later, at his Yeezy design presentation during Paris Fashion Week, Kanye stirred some controversy by wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “White Lives Matter,” which has been dubbed a “white supremacist term.”
Kanye West and Balenciaga have been intertwined for a good number of years. When Demna Gvasalia, the creative director of Balenciaga, established Vestments with his brother in 2014, their relationship got underway. This business partnership lasted until 2022.
Three Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga collaborations that were only accessible on Balenciaga’s website are officially removed and hence not available on any online retail outlets either.
Is this the beginning of the end?
The not-so-sudden dropping off of brands and disassociating themselves from Ye comes as an aftereffect of his openly accusing the companies of breaking their contracts. He also stood by assertions that Adidas had stolen his designs and published new clothing without consulting him.
Ye’s collaboration with Gap had also hit a head well before the contract’s termination date, and according to a statement from Adidas, his relationship with the sportswear company is currently “under review.”
Ye also appeared in a now-deleted YouTube video meeting with Adidas executives when he reportedly presented a pornographic movie in an attempt to draw analogies to how he felt he was treated by the business.
According to rumors, Anna Wintour, the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue, has finally decided to part ways with Ye.
