Balenciaga Has Cut Ties With Kanye West
Balenciaga is breaking off its relationship with Kanye West.
Parent company Kering confirmed to FN sister publication WWD that the French fashion house would no longer work with West, who now goes by Ye, following a series of controversial and anti-semitic statements from the rapper turned fashion designer.
“Balenciaga has no longer any relationship nor any plans for future projects related to this artist,” Kering told WWD.
Ye recently opened at the brand’s summer 2023 show during Paris Fashion Week while donning an all-black utilitarian outfit and a large canvas jacket covered in numerous pockets with a “Security” patch. Ye also partnered with Balenciaga artistic director Demna Gvasalia for the “Yeezy Gap Engineered by Balenciaga” collection, which launched in February, coinciding with Ye’s “Donda 2” album launch performance. Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian has also appeared in campaigns for the brand.
FN has reached out to Ye and Kering for a comment.
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The news marks the latest brand to part ways with Ye in recent months.
Adidas said earlier this month that it had put its Yeezy partnership under review, following weeks of comments from Ye accusing Adidas for copying his designs, not giving him enough control over his products and not opening up Yeezy stores, among other grievances.
The statement from Adidas came days after Ye’s controversial Yeezy SZN 9 fashion show, in which he was spotted wearing a black long-sleeved T-shirt with the words “White Lives Matter” emblazoned on the back. Following the show, he doubled down on his stance on Instagram despite widespread backlash and took particular heat for his social media bullying of Vogue fashion editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, though he later met with her in Paris.
The Yeezy brand in September said it was terminating its contract with Gap, accusing the apparel retailer of failing to fulfill certain contractual obligations, such as distributing Yeezy product in stores by the second half of 2021 and creating Yeezy Gap-branded stores.
