The first item from rapper Kanye West’s highly anticipated Yeezy Gap line is already sold out.
A $200 bright blue nylon puffer jacket was released on Tuesday in tandem with West’s 44th birthday. Shoppers were able to preorder the unisex coat, which will be shipped later this fall.
After only a few hours, the puffer jacker was already shown as sold out on Gap’s website. It’s unclear when additional items will be launched. The duo is likely using the jacket’s debut as a way to gauge consumer interest in the collaboration.
It has been almost a year since Gap’s tie-up with West was announced. Questions have since swirled around when exactly the line would go on sale, how much the merchandise would cost, and what the pieces would look like. Gap Chief Executive Officer Sonia Syngal has been tight-lipped about any details.
The partnership is supposed to be a 10-year agreement, with Yeezy expected to receive royalties and possibly receive equity based on how much it sells. Gap has not disclosed any other financial terms of the deal.
Yeezy — which is West’s sneaker and apparel business with both Adidas and Gap — has been valued at $3.2 billion to $4.7 billion by UBS, Bloomberg previously reported, based on internal documents compiled by the bank. The value of the Gap tie-up could be worth as much as $970 million of that total, according to the report.
With the deal, Gap hopes to build momentum to draw in new customers or entice long-time customers to return to its stores. The retailer is in the process of shedding underperforming locations in malls, to help drive future profitable growth. In Gap’s fiscal first quarter, sales surpassed pre-pandemic levels, driven by strength at Old Navy and Athleta.
Gap shares were up nearly 3% in premarket trading. The stock has gained nearly 130% over the past 12 months. It has a market cap of $11.8 billion.
Source: Business - cnbc.com
