Kanye ‘Ye’ West has a habit of doing nothing for ages and then three things at once. Right now, his Netflix documentary is rolling out (which he has a producers credit for but less creative control of); we got our first listen of DONDA 2 at an listening party in Miami last night, and his Yeezy Gap drop has arrived, in collaboration with Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia.
The drop sees Ye stick to his traditional no-frills colour scheme: everything is black, bar a glimmer of blue denim. Instead, the thrills are in his silhouettes: the classic Gap pullover hoodie gets a drop-shoulder make-over, with arms resembling wings to match the insignia of a dove on the back. The dove is a common theme throughout these pieces, representing, a press release states, “an unnamed hope for the future”.
Sweatpants and 3/4 length sleeved and cropped tees get the same treatment. The rare denim pieces — a biker jacket with bulbous, Demna-esque shoulder pads and matching frayed jeans — come in stonewashed blue and black. They comprise the first eight pieces in this new Yeezy Gap drop which, based on the additional imagery released alongside them, point towards an obscurer take on fashion that Gap is used to.
There’s a pair of thigh-high black boots in a crumbled paper texture, a full boiler suit look, alongside OTT puffers and accessories such as rucksacks and cross body bags. The designs “reflect timeless silhouettes translated through the lens of Ye and Demna’s shared vision of utilitarian design”.
Of course, the roll out for this one is more slow and steady than one hit that’s fast and heavy, with a few items slated to drop every so often. So if you miss out this time around — items are available from Yeezy Gap’s website and Farfetch from today — then make sure you set a timer for the next lot of magic from Ye and Demna’s brains.
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