YEEZY GAP LOGO IS OFFICIAL.
YEEZY GAP LOGO IS OFFICIAL.
Kanye West is cementing the logo for his company’s Collab with Gap… And it looks exactly like what Yeezus envisioned when this deal came together.
Kanye’s company filed legal docs, locking up the rights to the new logo design for his Yeezy Gap fashion line… And as you can see, the branding is pretty much the same logo Ye first tweeted out last summer; when he announced his 10 year deal with the retailer.
It’s clearly a play on the original Gap logo… Only instead of “GAP” in white block lettering inside a blue square; the letters spell out “YZY” and the blue square has rounded edges.
Kanye West’s deal-making with two of the world’s largest outfitters; is paying off for the musician-turned-entrepreneur after he spent years mired in debt.
YEEZY GAP LOGO IS OFFICIAL.
Yeezy, West’s sneaker & apparel business with Adidas AG & Gap Inc; is valued at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion by UBS Group AG; according to a private document reviewed by Bloomberg. The value of the new Gap tie-up, which will hit stores this summer; could be worth as much as $970 million of that total, the bank estimated.
The bank document reveals the ambitions of an alliance that hopes to emulate the success of the Adidas partnership. West, who retains sole ownership and creative control of the Yeezy brand; signed a 10-year agreement last year to design and sell clothes for men, women and kids under the Yeezy Gap label. (The arrangement excludes footwear; Yeezy’s partnership with Adidas is in place until 2026).
Gap executives have placed a lot of trust in West to help make them more relevant with younger shoppers. The San Francisco-based retailer, which also owns Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta; has been closing stores while putting money into e-commerce & activewear.
“Without some form of reinvention it will revert to previous struggles, which saw it lose shoppers, market share and sales,” Neil Saunders; an analyst at GlobalData Retail, said after Gap’s latest quarterly earnings.
Investors instantly recognized the significance of a West collaboration. Sending shares up the most in at least 40 years when the deal was announced in June.
The new figures signal that Gap expects its Yeezy line; which it plans to launch by July to break $150 million in sales in its first full year in 2022; according to the document. Gap envisions it becoming a billion-dollar revenue brand within eight years. With an upside case of sales exceeding $1 billion as soon as 2023, the document shows.
Sales for Yeezy’s Adidas sneakers remained resilient through the pandemic; growing 31% to nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue last year & netting Yeezy $191 million in royalties; according to the document.
The continued success of the Yeezy brand will be especially significant for West personally. His finances and business dealings have been revealed in sporadic disclosures over the years. In 2015, the rapper and designer told BET he was $16 million in debt. A year later he said he owed $53 million and asked Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg to invest in him. By 2018, Yeezy was earning more than $100 million in royalties through its Adidas relationship.
An unaudited balance sheet of West finances; provided by his lawyer, includes another $122 million in cash & stock and more than $1.7 billion in other assets This is including a significant investment in Skims, Kim Kardashian’s underwear label. West’s entire music catalog is worth $110.5 million, according to a 2020 valuation by Valentiem Group.
But it’s West’s shoe deal with Adidas that remains his largest asset, with its constant string of limited-edition sneaker drops that routinely sell out. He started working with Adidas in 2013 after collaborations with major retailers including Nike and LVMH. Though West owns it, Adidas currently operates his Yeezy Supply e-commerce site where sneakers are released. Lending its operational know-how to get shoes to shoppers who rush for the latest styles.
UBS, which prepared the document in February; said that the sneaker business was growing at a “staggering clip”. Retailers across categories have struggled to manage economic fallout from the health crisis, but sneaker sales have rebounded through the holiday season. There’s reason for optimism, as Yeezy’s rival Nike Inc. said in December; that it expects revenue in fiscal 2021 to rise at a low-teens percentage year-over-year
The final months before the Gap launch come amid a breakup with Kardashian; West’s spouse of six years, who filed for divorce in February. He’s now spending time between his Wyoming ranch and his atelier in Los Angeles; according to a person familiar with the matter. The Gap endeavor has already had its rocky moments, with West demanding a seat on the company’s board of directors and threatening to walk away from the deal in September.
Gap Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal said she spoke with West this month & assured analysts that he’s “very, very focused” on the new line. Few details have been released, though West has teased colorful hoodies and fleeces. Gap has described the collection as “modern, elevated basics.”
Under the terms of the agreement with Gap, West earns royalties on sales, and his rate increases as the business grows. Plus, he’ll get stock warrants as the line hits sales targets, with the highest set at $700 million; according to a securities filing.
The docs, also shed some light on what we might expect to see from Yeezy Gap — all types of clothing, of course… But also footwear, headwear, accessories and bags.
Filing these docs to protect the official logo makes a lot of sense … Yeezy Gap is reportedly planning to introduce merch in the first half of this year, & Gap’s has huge expectations for the spinoff brand — $1 billion in sales.
“The entire Gap team are heads down & believe this to be a very big potential for us,” Syngal said earlier this month.
