It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for Ye. His appearance at Burberry in London, followed by walking the runway at Balenciaga Summer 2023’s “The Mud Show” and his attendance at Givenchy’s Paris Fashion Week show brought potential hope to the rapper-turned-fashion designer; implying Ye could be here to support the industry.
However, his more-than-controversial YEEZY show (or YZYSZN9 as he likes to call it) caused an uprising in the fashion industry, on social media, and even with his then-supporters. Since, Ye has attempted to explain the reason behind his “White Lives Matter” T-shirt on the infamously Republican and Trump-supporting platform, Fox News, before going on to Instagram to comment on a number of people that shared their opinions on him — which resulted in him being given restricted access to the app.
The controversy continued to unravel, as Ye acquired the Conservative social media channel Parler, and then, George Floyd’s estate was said to be suing Ye for $250M USD for false claims on death. Now, it seems that Balenciaga — the luxury fashion house run by Demna — has cut ties with Ye.
First, Balenciaga seemingly removed all images of Ye from its runway coverage — noticed first on Vogue Runway. Following this, YEEZY GAP ENGINEERED BY BALENCIAGA has been removed from not just its own stores and website, but from all retailers globally.
At the time of writing, various former supporters have cut ties with Ye, with the likes of Tremaine Emory drawing the line with him following the “White Lives Matter” T-shirt moment. It all comes after Ye seemingly fell out with GAP and adidas somewhat simultaneously, leading the latter to then put the YEEZY deal “under review” given the outcome of the YZYSZN9 show and Ye’s antics.
With this in mind, it can only be assumed that Balenciaga is no longer affiliating itself with Mr. West. Silent omission of content proves that actions are sometimes louder than words.
